The Savage Earth
by MadnessJones
Summary: G1: The story of how the Insecticons came to be. A small Decepticon crew survives crashing on earth, but must now learn to survive in a harsh world with no energon. No pairings.
1. Parts Unknown

_Author's Note: Well, I didn't think my next fanfic would be about the Insecticons! This story is an origin plot for everyone's favorite mechanical swarm of locusts (unless there's another one I don't know about). The cartoon mentioned that they weren't always able to eat organic matter, and therefore weren't always Insecticons, so what gives? What did they go through to get to that point? Well, this random thought is the plot bunny for this fic. I hope you like it and I will update regularly :)_

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Chapter 1

Parts Unknown

The war had been escalating on Cybertron for thousands of vorns. The Decepticons had gone from being a small rebel faction to all but becoming the masters of their world! The Autobots had been forced further back, and many of their cities had either fallen or had defected to the Decepticons. Under Megatron's command the Decepticons were achieving power that the upper classes of Cybertron had denied them for far too long!

Despite the progress the Decepticons were making, however, there was one thing that still weighed heavy on everyone's processors: the energon shortage.

It was becoming clear that without new sources of energon all of Cybertron would starve...and then it wouldn't matter _who_ won the war. Despite his megalomaniacal tendencies, Megatron was not ignorant to the need for new fuel sources, so he had sent small teams of Decepticons in survey ships to search for new planets to conquer for their own needs.

That was where the _Ladybug_ came in. It was a small ship designed to scan for energy on other worlds, and had but a small skeleton crew aboard. In all, there were only 10 Decepticons on board. To be fair though, 10 still seemed like too many inside the tiny scout ship.

They were under the command of Bombshell; a mech that had been a medic before the war. He specialized in delicate processor surgery back in the day, but had his medical license revoked by the council when they discovered his more... _unorthodox_ procedures. He dabbled in everything from dangerous upgrades to protoforms all the way up to inventing a microchip that hacks a mech's processor and forces them to obey Bombshell's every command. Truth was if he hadn't joined the Decepticons he probably would've been killed by the council ages ago!

Bombshell knew his new assignment wasn't glorious, but at least it was safe. There would be no fights with Autobots and no death reports to file. They were just looking for energon. What could possibly go wrong?

He also enjoyed the company. While a few of the mechs were trouble, he got along quite well with his second in command and his communications officer. They both shared his sigma ability of being able to clone themselves. Of course, that was only useful in battle, and they likely wouldn't see battle on this mission.

"Commander, the scans show nothing nothing," Shrapnel, his SIC, reported, "I'd humbly suggest turning to starboard starboard."

"Acknowledged," Bombshell said evenly, "Hisser Wind, turn us to starboard."

"Aye aye, sir!" Hisser Wind, a sky blue and purple seeker, replied enthusiastically.

"And don't rock the cargo hold this time this time!" Shrapnel added caustically.

Hisser Wind grumbled under his breath but was quick to comply.

Shrapnel wasn't the most popular mech on board the ship. In fact, most mechs in general tended to avoid the hotheaded little head case. He was considered weird and angry, and nobody felt like listening to his speech impediment for long periods of time. None of this bothered Bombshell, however. He knew the sadistic little glitch was loyal to the core of his spark and would likely do anything for him and the rest of the crew. Besides, he was good at keeping the others in line.

"Commander, we have a transmission from Cybertron," Kickback, his chief of communications cut in, "It's from Acid Storm. Should I put it through?"

"Pit, no!" Bombshell immediately answered, causing everyone on the bridge to stare at him, "... _No_! Forget it! I still remember the last time I got stuck talking to that guy! He kept me on the comm for 5 hours and I missed an important communique from Shockwave!"

"You heard him, Kickback! Cut the transmission transmission!" Shrapnel ordered.

"Whatever you say. Not my skid plates on the line," Kickback quipped easily.

Not everyone could talk to Bombshell or Shrapnel like that, but Kickback wasn't just anyone. He was probably Shrapnel's only true friend, and he was also one of the most easygoing and laid back mechs Bombshell had ever met. Kickback might have an attitude problem, but he was good for morale.

"Hey! Nucleus! Get your treads off the console console!" Shrapnel snapped at one of the large tank formers manning the weapons array.

Bombshell barely heard Shrapnel's harping anymore. It was like white noise. He secretly suspected that Shrapnel just acted like that compensate for the fact that he was a minibot and probably the shortest mech in their unit. There weren't many minibots that survived in the Decepticon ranks. Most of them joined the Autobots for protection, but not Shrapnel. He was tough, and he wanted the whole universe to know it! It also helped that the dark purple minibot had two antennae that allowed him to shoot electricity from his head! Bombshell didn't know why Shrapnel joined the Decepticons. He didn't know him well enough to ask, and suspected he never would.

Kickback's reason was a bit more obvious: boredom. Kickback loved the thrill of adventure and liked sneaking into places to see if he could avoid being caught. Kickback wasn't very happy with his job working the communications console. He romanticized the idea of fighting for the Decepticon cause and bringing energon back to a starving and grateful populace. Bombshell didn't begrudge him these fantasies though. After all, he was young.

Bombshell scratched the top of his cone-shaped head as he tried to think of a way to make their search for resources more efficient. They had been out here for several dozen orns, and it was starting to get tedious. Especially since most of the crew consisted of seekers. Bombshell himself was a conehead seeker. Kickback was a seeker as well, but of the more typical design.

"Commander!" Hisser Wind's panicked voice broke Bombshell from his thoughts, "The ship is being pulled into a gravitational field! I've lost control of navigation and we're coming down fast!"

"All power to the thrusters!" Bombshell demanded, "Nucleus, Jughead! I need you to shoot down any space debris that gets too close! If the ship remains in tact we might have a chance of surviving the impact!"

"Yes, sir!" Jughead, a nervous white tank former, replied.

"Kickback! Send out a distress signal!" Bombshell ordered frantically.

"I can't, sir!" Kickback shouted over the sound of the engines roaring to keep up with the new strain of gravity, "We're out of range! There are no civilized planets for light years! I can't get a response from anybody!"

" _We're gonna die_!" Someone from behind Bombshell screamed.

"No, we're not!" Bombshell hollered over the bedlam of his bridge, "We're the mighty Decepticons, and we can survive anything! Brace for impact! We'll survive…"

With that proclamation the ship lurched forward and began to shake! The mechs could feel the heat as the unknown planet's atmosphere covered their ship like a thermal blanket. An _evil_ thermal blanket…

Shrapnel lost his grip on the chair he was holding and almost fell face-first into a console, but Kickback grabbed his servo and held tight! Bombshell saw that Jughead had been knocked out cold and crashed into the sensor array; crushing it with his head. Now they would never be able to locate new sources of energon...They would crash on an unknown world, and their mission had failed…

Before Bombshell blacked out, all he could think about was how far he had sunk in the short amount of time between his medical career and his glorified scavenger job on this doomed ship.

* * *

The smoke had barely cleared and a crater had been formed by the ship when the remains of the crew decided to get out and explore the world that had claimed the Ladybug. 3 crew members had died, but 7 were left to explore the new planet. There was Commander Bombshell, Shrapnel, Kickback, Hisser Wind, Nucleus, Suppressor, and Gall. They had lost Jughead, Pincer, and Grit Iron.

They all looked around the planet. It was organic, and the humidity was unbearable! It was covered in giant green plants and what bit of the sky they could see was blue!

"Seriously, who ever heard of a _blue_ sky?" Gall asked disdainfully, "How's a mech supposed to scan two new alt modes when he can't even find one good thing on the planet?"

"Oh, stop complaining complaining!" Shrapnel barked, "We're still alive, aren't we aren't we?"

"Ah, don't listen to him!" Kickback retorted, "Triple changers are always fussy!"

While his crew argued among themselves Bombshell took stock of this world and it's organic inhabitants. There were animals large and small surrounding the area. None of them seemed sentient, but all seemed hardy and potentially dangerous if they weren't careful. The plants were used as a food source by many of the organic animals...That information could be useful, but Bombshell wasn't sure how just yet.

"Our ship crashed into a tree," Nucleus said flatly.

"Tree? So that's what that thing is called!" Hisser Wind observed happily.

"That's the spirit…" Bombshell deadpanned as he saw his navigator fly around the trees to examine them.

Bombshell didn't know where they were or if there was a way to get energon down here, but he did know one thing...It would take everything they had to survive.


	2. Starvation

_Author's Note: I feel so accomplished today! I managed to get this chapter done and post on my blog! About time, too. I've neglected my poor blog for too long... Anyway, this chapter gets a little grim, but it's just to set the stage for everything that will transpire afterwards. Please follow if you want to see more, and review if you like the story so far. Enjoy the fic :)_

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Chapter 2

Starvation

The first night on this planet had come and gone swiftly. The weather changed at a constant pace. One joor it was frigid cold and the next it was sweltering hot! Humidity was oxidizing their armor, and the skies were littered with winged vermin! Nothing about this planet seemed redeemable to the untrained optic, but the crew of the Ladybug was starting to notice a few things that might make their trip worthwhile…

"Report!" Bombshell commanded as the troops came back.

"The volcanoes are a great source of energy energy!" Shrapnel informed Bombshell, "There also seems to be a rich supply of iron ore ore!"

"Yeah, and these animals are so fascinating!" Hisser Wind added, "Some of them grow horns, and some have fur, and other have skeletons on the outside!"

"You need to stop sightseeing and do your job job!" Shrapnel snapped at the light blue seeker.

Bombshell didn't have the spark to dampen his comrade's enthusiasm. He also held a certain bit of curiosity for these strange magnificent creatures. Most of his team was enraptured with the big hulking animals that controlled the planet and made quick work of anything in their path, but Bombshell saw these creatures a bit differently. The insects of this world, while unassuming, were savage and greedy creatures that would likely outlive everything else on this miserable mud ball!

Kickback, meanwhile, was in charge of sending distress signals to any ship that might be passing by in the hopes of a rescue. He knew it was pointless, but they had to try something in order to keep their sanity. Gall and Nucleus were guarding the ship in case predators tried to break in and trash their home base. The Ladybug was in bad repair, but at least there was enough of it left to live in.

Shrapnel told Bombshell all the locations of nearby active volcanoes. This would be their saving grace. At least they would be able to obtain energon and survive until a ship came and found them. They just hoped that ship wasn't an Autobot ally.

"Bad news, Commander," Suppressor said grimly, "I just checked the Ladybug, and all of our energon cubes have been smashed to bits. We have no way to gather energon. Our own supply will run out within the orn, so if no one finds us…"

Suppressor didn't need to say anymore. They all knew what it would mean if there was no one to find them out here in the backwoods of the galaxy. No cubes meant no food, and no food meant eventually they would all starve to death.

"Suppressor," Bombshell said solemnly, "Find the bodies of our fallen comrades. We need to strip them of usable parts in case one of us needs repair, and we need to collect the energon."

His crew gasped at his words! Take energon from a _corpse_? It was unthinkable! If they were willing to stoop that low, then how much further would they be willing to go to stay functional?

"Sir, I don't think-" Suppressor started to say.

"Are you _questioning_ our commander commander?" Shrapnel asked sharply.

The minibot's antennae sparked with electricity searching for a target, and when their SIC was in one of his _moods_ no one wanted to tangle with him. Suppressor backed off and did as she was told. It was true...They needed the energon. Still, something about all of this just felt _wrong_.

* * *

Two orns later had seen the sun on this planet rise and set many times. Nucleus's theory was that the planet's days ran on a 23-26 hour cycle, but he hadn't been able to narrow it down precisely yet. Already this world was taking its toll on their meager forces. At first it seemed like starvation was their only concern, but now they knew the animals on this planet were also a danger to them.

Suppressor was the first to die. She had been crushed by a long-nosed furry thing as she trudged along the plains in search of firewood. They were so low on energon that their core body temperatures weren't able to hold without extra heat. They were also so depleted that they were slower, unable to fly, and unable to use their weapons to defend themselves. Suppressor never stood a chance.

After the femme died the next one to be deactivated was Gall. As a triple changer he had a large energon requirement, and the crew simply couldn't continue to feed him enough to keep him functioning. After a week Bombshell made the unpopular decision to stop giving him rations altogether so that they could keep the rest of the crew alive. At first Gall had protested and threatened to take the energon for himself, but eventually he realized it was pointless. He would die either way, and it wasn't fair to take away a chance at survival from the others. He was gone less than one orn later.

The death that hit everyone the hardest, however, was Hisser Wind. Kickback had been good friends with the happy little seeker, and even Bombshell appreciated his curiosity and gregariousness. If it had been in battle maybe it wouldn't have been so bad, but he had wasted away lying on his wings and back until he just turned grey and deactivated. Even Shrapnel seemed a little upset, but who could tell with him?

There were only 4 left after that.

Bombshell looked around the fire at what was left. It was just him, Shrapnel, Nucleus and Kickback. None of them looked like their former selves. Shrapnel was quiet, Kickback was depressed, and Nucleus was barely keeping himself going by looking at research data and tending the fire.

Kickback had lost one of his best friends when he lost Hisser Wind, and Nucleus had already lost his best friend when Jughead died in the crash. Shrapnel had no real friends besides Kickback, and if anything happened to Kickback...Bombshell didn't want to think about that. Shrapnel was dangerous enough as it was.

This could not go on! They had no energon, they had no way to repair the ship, and they had long ago lost hope of ever seeing another Decepticon again. He was their leader! He had to find a way to save what was left of his crew! Sure, they were just two seekers, a tank former, and a minibot, but so what? They were Decepticons! They would conquer this planet or die trying! They would sit around on their skid plates no more! He would find a way for them to survive...

He looked down at the stag beetle next to his pede and wondered if it understood how lucky it was to have everything it needed right on its own little planet? No dark histories, no enemies, and no responsibilities beyond eat, mate, and survive. The beetle skittered away, and the embers of the fire clouded Bombshell's vision. If only Cybertronians could ingest organic matter…

"Wait! That's it!" Bombshell shouted; causing his teammates to jump in surprise, "I have an idea! I can still save us!"

"Have you gone crazy crazy?" Shrapnel asked without emotion, "We're going to die die. Might as well accept it accept it."

"No! I really do have an idea, and we will get off this planet alive!" Bombshell declared with a fire in his Crimson optics that hadn't been there since before the crash.

"What is it, Commander?" Kickback asked hopefully; willing to try anything at this point.

"I'll explain later, but for now, I need you to tear apart the ship!" Bombshell ordered.

" _What_!?" Nucleus practically screamed in protest, "But that ship is our only protection against the elements and the beasts! We need it!"

"We need _more_ than protection!" Bombshell exclaimed fervently, "We need defense! We need food! We need to adapt! I will build us bodies capable of surviving anything this planet throws at us! I must warn you though, we will never be the same again."

Bombshell practically whispered these last words, as if reconsidering what he was about to do to his team. He knew this plan was crazy, and he knew this plan was desperate, but he was one of the best medics on Cybertron at one time. This was the kind of mad surgery that he was infamous for!

Shrapnel looked at him like he had built a second head. Kickback looked eager to rip the ship apart with his bare servos to serve his commander's whim. Nucleus looked thoughtful but uncertain. They all knew one thing though: they were willing to take this chance. There was nothing left to lose.


	3. Last Ditch Effort

_Author's Note: I'm surprised by how quickly this fic is going, but I will probably slow down after this to give the ideas time to ferment...Probably. Either way, please follow and favorite to see more, and please review because I love hearing from all of you :)_

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Chapter 3

Last Ditch Effort

Bombshell entered the medbay carefully; making certain that he didn't step on any leftover medical waste or broken parts from the crash. This place was in shambles, and he only hoped that his little pet project was still alright. If he could get that new matter converter working, then he and his crew could save their skid plates!

Meanwhile, Shrapnel, Kickback, and Nucleus were tearing the rest of the ship apart bolt by bolt. They needed the dark purple and yellow armor from the outside of the ship, and they needed sensitive parts from the relay systems to properly configure their new bodies.

 _New bodies_...It still seemed weird. After this was over Bombshell wouldn't be a seeker anymore. Would he even be able to call himself a Cybertronian? Soon he would turn himself and his crew into mutants! Still, if they were to live long enough to see Cybertron again they would have to adapt. This world would be theirs, and if they could find a way to harvest the potential energon on this world they would be hailed as heroes! Megatron might even promote them for this!

He searched every cabinet, table, and even floor paneling for the matter converter. He couldn't find that stupid thing anywhere! Then he remembered...his quarters! He had been tinkering with it in his quarters! He just hoped the device was still intact. His quarters had been trashed when they crash landed, and he had been bunking with Shrapnel; which Shrapnel wasn't happy about.

Bombshell flew out of the medbay as fast as he could, and nearly knocked his head into the ceiling a couple times! He was so excited that soon he would be able to perform surgery again! Yes, it was a grim situation, but there was still a part of him that wanted to get lost in his work again! He found the device in his wrecked quarters, but the converter was dented and would require a new fuel pump. This would set them back a couple joors, but still he felt he could finish it before they all keeled over from energon deprivation. He hoped...

* * *

"Hey look, no hands!" Kickback joked as he dangled some loose vines on his wings like an idiot.

"Stop playing around around!" Shrapnel barked, "We still need to strip away this old impact module module!"

"Do we really need that thing?" Nucleus asked skeptically.

"Of course we need it need it!" Shrapnel insisted, "This will shield us from collisions collisions!"

"Is there enough of it for all of us?" Kickback asked.

"Hm...Probably not," Nucleus said after staring at the plating for a minute, "I don't need it though. I'm a tank! I've got enough shielding without it."

Then one of Kickback's dangling vines slapped Shrapnel square in the faceplate! The little purple mech wasn't happy, but he still didn't feel like wasting his precious little energy shocking some sense into that punk kid.

"I need a vacation vacation…" Shrapnel muttered under his breath as he ripped away the vines from Kickback's wings, "Stupid kids kids…"

Kickback looked at Shrapnel walking away with a forlorn expression. He wasn't sure at what point it happened, but Shrapnel didn't laugh at his jokes anymore. Bombshell didn't suffer his antics anymore either. It seemed like his friends were tired of him now...

"Ah, don't let it get'cha down," Nucleus reassured Kickback, "He still likes you. He's just stressed because he's hungry. We're all hungry."

"No kidding," Kickback replied sullenly, "I just want things to be the way they were. Shrapnel used to blindly follow whatever Bombshell said, but now he insults our Commander at every turn! I'm worried he's one bad day away from pulling a Starscream! Bombshell coming up with a plan was probably the first sane thing that's happened since we got here, and even _that_ feels off. It's like Bombshell is going mad!"

"Kickback?"

"Yes, Nucleus?"

"He _is_ mad."

* * *

Bombshell had locked himself away in his quarters for nearly 4 joors working on the matter converter as well as a few other upgrades for the new bodies. He had been inspired when he saw the insects of this world. Despite the superior size of the mammals and the reptiles, it was the insects that were the true survivors on this planet, and it was the insects they would emulate!

His systems cried out that he couldn't go on much longer. His energon levels were at a mere 7% and dropping fast! He needed to hurry up! His crew needed him to survive long enough to finish their upgrades!

He reached for the comm in his head and took in a deep intake of air to calm his overheated circuits. It was now or never!

"Bombshell to Shrapnel," Bombshell said out loud; too weak to focus on a text-based signal, "Meet me in the medbay. I'm going to upgrade you first. That's an order! Don't be long...Bombshell out."

He nearly felt himself black out for a second or two during the transmission, but then righted himself and with a strength he barely possessed made his way to the medbay.

Shrapnel was already waiting; sitting on a steel berth with a resigned look on his face.

"Will I be put under under?" Shrapnel asked.

"I want to, but I can't," Bombshell replied morosely, "Your energon is too low, and if you fall into recharge you might not wake up. I will, however, put this microchip on your head to prevent you from moving so I don't mess up the surgery. Don't worry old friend. If this works then you will survive."

"You certainly use the word survive a lot a lot," Shrapnel commented dryly.

"I know...but it's all we have to look forward to now," Bombshell said cryptically as he pulled out a copy of the matter converter and began to graft it into Shrapnel's open chest casing.

* * *

Kickback fiddled with a light pen and tried not to think about what was happening to Shrapnel in the medbay. He and Nucleus sat around the charred remains of what had once been their fire. They had finally grown too weak to keep searching for wood to keep it lit, and the fire had died two days prior.

Kickback drew designs on his arm with the yellow colored light pen. He always liked drawing as a youngling, but since the war began he had lost interest. Now he tried to draw something cool, but all he got was squiggles. He guessed he should've kept up with it so he wouldn't lose his talent.

He looked over at Nucleus to see how the big green tank was doing. He was asleep; his body leaned against a tree with moss running down it. It almost seemed like the perfect camouflage for him; green on green. He looked almost at peace recharging on the ground like that.

Kickback was barely able to move, and his wings were sore, but he managed to get up and walk over to where Nucleus was resting.

"Hey Nucleus, get up," Kickback said as he gently shook the tank former, "Bombshell says we shouldn't fall into recharge yet. He says wait until we get the upgrades. Hey, Nucleus? _Nucleus_ …?"

It was too late, however. Nucleus wasn't recharging anymore. His body was slowly turning grey right before Kickback's optics! Kickback felt like crying, but he knew no energon would leak from his optics. It couldn't. He just didn't have enough of it to spare.

* * *

Shrapnel felt of his new wings with a sense of awe and disbelief. They weren't like seeker wings. These were transparent and slender. He also had to flap his wings to make them work properly, which he was sure would get annoying over time. His antennae took on a more rounded look, and his coloring, while similar to what he had before, looked more dull; like the Ladybug had looked. In short, this upgrade was a mixed bag of positives and negatives.

"Now to test the matter converter," Bombshell said with a tired expression.

"Yeah...What exactly does this thing do do?" Shrapnel asked warily.

"You'll see," Bombshell replied vaguely, "Now, do you see this oil rag?"

"Yes, Commander," Shrapnel answered.

"Eat it." Bombshell commanded curtly.

" _What_? Are you _insane_ insane?!" Shrapnel shrieked.

"Just trust me," Bombshell insisted, "Eat it. You will be fine...Probably."

" _Probably_ probably?" Shrapnel balked at the idea of eating garbage.

Before he could protest further, Bombshell shoved the dirty cloth into his SIC's mouth! Shrapnel gagged, but then out of instinct began to chew. His new mandibles made quick work of the cloth, and it actually tasted...delicious!

The matter converter inside his body went to work on the cloth, turning the molecules of matter into molecules of pure energy! It wasn't as potent as energon, but it was slowly working its way into Shrapnel's system and helping him to heal!

"Commander...This is... _Incredible_ incredible!" Shrapnel gasped in awe, "You must get to work on the others others!"

"Of course," Bombshell nodded in satsfaction, "Send in Nucleus next. His systems are closer to breaking down due to his larger size."

"Hey, um, Bombshell…" Shrapnel asked awkwardly, "Got anything else to eat eat?"

"It's a big world out there Shrapnel," Bombshell waved expansively as he spoke, "It doesn't matter what you want: animals, plants, minerals...You can eat _anything_ you want. This invention will revolutionize the Decepticon forces!"

"Just make sure you _revolutionize_ Kickback and Nucleus Nucleus!" Shrapnel said vehemently, "Especially Kickback Kickback!"

"Just send in Nucleus already!" Bombshell groused.

Shrapnel then grabbed a piece of broken energon cube and shoved it in his mandibles to eat. It was good too, but not as delicious as the oil rag. He walked away feeling a lot better about his commander and about their chances of rescue. When he went outside, however, his mood suddenly took another nosedive...

Kickback was tearing away parts from Nucleus and pouring his energon into a spare box that had been used for nuts and bolts at one time. Shrapnel was saddened, but not as disgusted as he used to be at this sight. They had lost another team member, and all Shrapnel could do was watch as Kickback, their once young and lively seeker, gathered up the life's energy from his comrade and greedily drank it down.

Shrapnel turned away before he was noticed and went back to Bombshell's medbay. He sat down in a chair and watched Bombshell prepare his tools for his next patient. That patient would not be Nucleus now.

"Commander commander?" Shrapnel spoke softly in the quiet room, but still shocked Bombshell with the volume of his voice, "I think you should be the next patient patient."

"Why would you say that?" Bombshell asked suspiciously.

"Kickback just ate ate," Shrapnel said simply, "He will be fine for a couple of joors joors."

Bombshell didn't need to ask what that meant. The only place for Kickback to get energon was from another mech, and Shrapnel didn't even bother to mention Nucleus.

Bombshell lifted up the crested relay system that would replace the cone on his head. It was crafted to look just like the mighty horn of a stag beetle. Bombshell might've been a medic, but even he had a flare for the dramatic when he wanted to. He would upgrade himself, and then he would upgrade Kickback. There might have been only three of them now, but at least their chances of thriving in this world had greatly increased.


	4. Going Native

_Author's Note: Well, so far all of these chapters have been short, and this one is no exception. Still, I got this done quicker than I thought I would, and it turned out alright so I'm happy. Thanks to everyone who has supported this fic, and I hope you like this next chapter of The Savage Earth :)_

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Chapter 4

Going Native

Learning to use their new bodies was proving to be a humbling experience. For one thing, they had to get used to the way they flew. Shrapnel especially had a lot of difficulty because he had never flown with wings before. Shrapnel, like all other ground-based Decepticons, had one of Shockwave's antigravity modules installed when he joined the ranks of Megatron's army. Antigravity technology wasn't so much flying as it was magnetic field manipulation.

Now, however, he and the others had to learn to use their new propulsion powered wings. What Cybertronian had to _flap_ wings? Something about it seemed inherently wrong, but at the same time using momentum instead of just fuel decreased their energon consumption by 16%. Much more efficient than Bombshell's and Kickback's old seeker bodies. Of course, flying was only half the battle.

The Insecticons, as Bombshell had affectionately named their new team, had to learn to fly in formation together, which was no easy feat. They would crash their helms into each other like goats upon takeoff, or else fly so far away from each other that they had trouble locating their comm signals again! It would've been funny if they weren't the ones going through it!

"You know, in all the vorns I've been a Decepticon, I never thought I would end up in a trine trine," Shrapnel joked.

"We are not a trine," Bombshell groused; insulted, "Trines are special bonds between seekers. We are not bonded in any way, and you are not a seeker."

"Neither are you you," Shrapnel needled his commander.

Bombshell thought about that, and it was true. He wasn't a conehead anymore, and wasn't even sure if he could call himself anything other than an Insecticon anymore. He began to wonder how other Cybertronians would treat him and his comrades if and when they returned home. Would they be hailed as heroes for discovering the secret to endless energy, or would they be reviled as disgusting monsters for their unconventional alt modes? Either one was possible.

Shrapnel saw a few positives to his new form. Now he was roughly in the same height range as his fellow Insecticons. Was he taller, or were they shorter? He didn't care! He was just happy he didn't have to feel like a useless minibot anymore! He also appreciated his enhanced optical capabilities and the longer range he got with his electrical attacks. Honestly, his new Insecticon form felt more powerful than anything he'd had before!

Kickback didn't feel one way or another about it. What he enjoyed most was the planet. The sky on this planet gave off the most beautiful colors just before night fell. He loved to fly at sunset and feel like he was a part of this panoramic work of art that was the setting of the sun!

On this day though, they were flying in mid-afternoon, and there was hardly a cloud to be seen.

As they flew over the plains of...Actually, they never got around to naming this block of dirt. Well, as they were flying over the plains of [Item Name Here] they came across a pack of large animals. They appeared to be large felines with sharp teeth and razor claws. They stalked around in search of wounded prey animals. What the hapless cats didn't know was that they had just gone from being predators to prey themselves...

Shrapnel started by confusing the animals with his lightning bolts! He only struck a couple of them, but kept firing a circle around them to confuse their organic optic sensors! Kickback then rushed them by tackling the biggest one he could find! Bombshell's stun bombs knocked them all out, which meant it was time for their first animal-based feast!

The feeding frenzy clouded their senses! Nothing was seen, heard, or felt except the flavors of the animal's flesh dancing on the palates in their mandibles. The animals were still warm, and still alive! It helped the Insecticons' delicate temperature controls keep them comfortable and fully charged.

The matter converted into energon so pure that it was practically high grade! The three mechs had never felt more satisfied in their lives. Now that they had tasted meat, there was no going back.

* * *

That night the three Insecticons sat around a fire and talked about the day's events. Everything had gone well for them. They ate meat for the first time, and then they managed to get through flight training without bumping into each other. Yes, life was good.

"I've never tasted anything more delicious delicious!" Shrapnel said dreamily, "Flesh creatures have got to be the tastiest things in the galaxy galaxy!"

"Eh," Kickback shrugged, "I prefer plant matter. It digests easier, and I can stay more alert after consuming it. Even dried plant matter is just wonderful!"

"You are such a sparkling sparkling!" Shrapnel teased, "Flesh creatures are way better than plants plants! Plants have no fight fight!"

"Exactly," Kickback said with a smug expression, "You don't waste energon going after a salad. Besides, they make chlorophyll from sunlight, water, and the oxygen compound in the planet's atmosphere. It's like eating part of the sun!"

"Such a poet poet," Shrapnel said sarcastically, "But flesh still beats vegetables vegetables!"

"You're both wrong," Bombshell suddenly cut in, "The best food is in the caves."

"Why?" Kickback asked, "What's in the caves?"

"Minerals," Bombshell replied, "Anything you could want. Zinc, iron ore, magnesium, copper...Have you tried silver dipped in water? It tastes like the rust of a rich mech. Mm...It goes great with plant matter."

" _Eeeww_! _Ugh!_ " Shrapnel and Kickback said at once.

" _Rust_?!" Kickback asked; revolted.

"You're _disgusting_ disgusting!" Shrapnel shrieked in horror, "What kind of maniac eats _rust_ rust?"

"Oh, I know it wouldn't be any good by itself," Bombshell said casually, "But it makes a wonderful garnish for other foods. You should try it."

" _Right_ right," Shrapnel muttered, "When a Sharkticon wins parent of the year year…"

* * *

 **500 vorns later...**

The Insecticons lost all track of time, and eventually lost all track of purpose as well. Their days had finally settled into a routine. They flew in formation, they hunted, and they returned home to eat and recharge. It was all so simple, and yet took up all of their time and energy. Survive for the sake of survival. That was all it was.

The odd part was that no one seemed to mind. Talk of going back to Cybertron had all but ended vorns ago. As the centuries passed and their bodies became second nature to them, the Insecticons eventually lost interest in all the high and mighty talk of the Decepticon cause. They had found a planet, they had conquered it, and as far as they were concerned nothing else mattered. So long as they had each other and food in their mandibles, they were satisfied.

Bombshell also wasn't sure when it happened, but Shrapnel seemed to give all the orders now. He led the formation, he told them what to kill and when, and he always got the best chunks of meat from their flesh prey.

Decepticons usually became leader when they overthrew their superiors or when their superiors died in battle. That wasn't what happened with the Insecticons. No one ever made a declaration of challenge, and no one ever openly acknowledged a command chain at all. The transition was so natural that no one even seemed to notice it. Shrapnel was the formation leader now. That was that, and no one cared.

As time passed they started to notice certain species of animals and plants were becoming rarer, and new species would take their place. This planet was young, and it was volatile. As the ages dragged on the Insecticons were constantly being forced to accept new food sources and say goodbye to old ones. Shrapnel was especially upset that those hairy monsters with the long noses were gone since he so enjoyed hunting them. Still, a few extinct organics wouldn't get in the way of their domination of the planet.

One thing that _did_ get in the way of total domination, however, was the cold. The planet seemed to be getting colder, and that wasn't good for the Insecticons' delicate temperature regulators. Every time the air got too frigid they would fly further south or further east or wherever they needed to go to be warm. Flying over the ocean was a real pain in the afterburners as well! It took days with their inefficient flapping wings! By the time they got where they were going the group was usually too tired to do more than recharge and hope food was close by when they woke up.

Sometimes they would awaken to find that nearly a Vorn had passed! What kind of Cybertronian sleeps for that long? A half century is a little too long for comfort! The cause of this phenomenon was obvious though; their bodies were just too cold. The Insecticons had conquered everything else, but they couldn't conquer the cold. The poor metallic bugs didn't even have supplies to try to make better temperature regulators. They had eaten the ship and its contents long ago. All that was left of the Ladybug was a small part of the ship that got lodged in a boulder during the crash. It served as a memorial for names the Insecticons couldn't even remember anymore.

* * *

 **Many vorns later…**

Bombshell ached all over. How long had he been asleep this time? He onlined his optics to see that his friends were also just waking up. It was weird, but for some reason they all awoke at the same time every time. Bombshell didn't know why, but he didn't really care to think about it. The days when curiosity ruled his processor were long gone.

"Hey...uhn...Bombshell?" Kickback called out groggily from a tree branch in the forest where they slept, "...Where did we land last time? Where are we now?"

"I think it's that cluster of islands on the east central part of the planet," Bombshell explained, "I forgot which island though."

"Who _cares_ cares?" Shrapnel snapped as he cracked his joints to get them working properly, "At least this time it's warm warm!"

"Um, guys...Is it just me, or is there less forest than there was before?" Kickback asked nervously.

"What do you-?" But before Bombshell could finish his question, he saw what the other Insecticon was talking about…

There was a building! It was small, but it had a lot of tiny little windows! There must've been a hundred windows, which meant there must've been at least fifty bite-sized rooms! What kind of creature needed so much space despite being so tiny?

They got their answer when they saw a bunch of previously unidentified creatures lounging around the building and a crystal blue artificial pond that lay directly in front of it. These beings were small, pink yellow and brown, and only seemed to have fur on top of their helms! They looked so fragile, yet so self assured.

"Is that a new kind of monkey monkey?" Shrapnel asked as he stared at the organic beings sipping on some kind of colorful drinks, "Monkeys are delicious delicious!"

"Shut up!" Bombshell snapped, "I'm trying to watch!"

Kickback and Shrapnel quickly got bored and went off to eat the tops off some trees, but Bombshell was transfixed by the sight of these new creatures. It was the closest thing to a sentient race he had seen since leaving...Where was he from again? Oh yeah, Cybertron! He'd almost forgot.

These things basked in their own luxury, and wore fabrics to protect their bodies' most sensitive areas. Bombshell had only seen fabric used for curtains and ornate tapestries before. It seemed weird that they were wearing art supplies. They also spoke to one another in a fluid yet primitively language. Most of them seemed happy, and despite the carefree attitude of these organics something about them seemed different. Seemed...sinister.

Bombshell felt something inside of him that he thought had died long ago...Curiosity.


	5. Crop Circles

_Author's Note: I wanted to say thank you to those who have supported this story so far! The system is on the fritz so I can't reply to reviews, so I wanted to say to_ **KnightForHire245** _and_ **Darkwalk12** _that you guys are awesome and thank you for your lovely reviews :)_

* * *

Chapter 5

Crop Circles

For some reason the planet was finally warming up to a comfortable temperature, but only near the central longitude of the beautiful blue-green sphere. The Insecticons kept to the places where they knew the weather would stay warm for them, and when there was a storm they would simply move on before the clouds of doom hit them. It was similar to their lives before, only somehow more manageable.

Bombshell had found a new hobby since they last awoke: human watching. These creatures that called themselves humans were fascinating. They were weak, small, squishy, and had annoying voices. Yet despite these prerequisites for prey they were the most dangerous predator on the whole planet! Thousands of plant and animal species went extinct simply because they got in the human race's way! It was simply remarkable! They were practically Decepticons!

For this reason Bombshell insisted to the others that they must be careful around this invasive new species. Unlike their non-sentient prey, these new creatures had the power to fight back; weak though they were. The humans' technology was quite advanced. Considering these things weren't even _there_ when the Insecticons last offlined their dominance was freaky. It was like the flesh creatures just sprung up overnight fully equipped with planet crushing technology!

For all their might however, Bombshell did notice one drawback to the new species. Their lifespans were incredibly short, not as short as a bug mind you, but too short to really leave a lasting impact on their society. He observed one specimen since it was 10 solar years old, and noticed that it died around age 75 or 76 solar years old. He couldn't find a reason as to why it died. It just went into recharge and never woke up. He wondered if he should observe another specimen, but then decided against it.

Shrapnel, however, wasn't as impressed. When he saw these creatures all he wanted to do was eat them. To be fair, that's what Shrapnel thought about everything.

One time Shrapnel caved into his desire and found a human that lived in a small shelter near a large patch of grain. He ate the human without even sharing! The real problem came when they noticed the grain didn't grow back after they ate it, and the little house crumpled due to disrepair. Kickback was so upset because one of his favorite grain spots stopped producing grain, and all because Shrapnel just _had_ to eat the farmer! After that they stopped eating the humans, just in case.

Still, that didn't mean the Insecticons couldn't have a little fun, and Kickback knew just how to entertain himself when his brothers were out hunting…

* * *

Kickback sat up in the tree and waited. Normally he didn't travel this far north, but this was one of the biggest patches of grain he had ever seen, and he couldn't afford to miss this opportunity. He had managed to get a great meal all to himself, and he found a way to put his universal translator to good use…

Kickback had been watching this particular human family unit for cycles, and he was used to helping himself to a little of their grain. The humans usually blamed earth insects or rabbits for their missing grain, but today he would show them who _really_ ruled their planet, and by extension their grain.

He stiffened as he heard the noise of a creaky screen door open, and he saw the overweight human femme walking out to check on the golden field. This was going to be perfect!

She went out into the field just like every other day he'd seen her, and the old mech human joined her just as Kickback knew he would. He watched with gleeful optics and growing anticipation as they found his little "gift" to them.

"James! What happened to our grain?" The femme shrieked.

The James looked, and Kickback tried his best not to wriggle from his spot in the oak tree. This was too perfect! They were going to be furious!

"Brandy! I think it's...I think it's a crop circle!" The James replied to his femme, "We've gotta call someone about this!"

"Who, the FBI? The CIA?" The Brandy asked.

"No, the papers!" The James explained; still in shock.

Kickback didn't know what _the papers_ was, but he knew it must be important if the mech human sounded so excited about them. Maybe he was going to get the grain field inspected or registered? Kickback didn't know, but he sure was proud of himself. He got in a good meal and had a chance to practice his artistic skills. To be fair, he could still only draw squiggles, but the humans didn't need to know that…

Still, the humans' intense reactions emboldened Kickback to try this again somewhere else. In fact, he might try for a bigger one next time!

More crop circles started popping up all over the world. The humans seemed to love Kickback's artwork, or at least that was how he interpreted it. He was so happy with the attention he was getting from his work that it was everything he could do to keep from telling the whole planet it was him! Then again, the crop drawings weren't as much fun without the hint of vandalism associated with the act.

Kickback flew to wherever he felt his drawings would get the most attention. It had started as purely a wheat field pursuit, but soon he was even chewing through freshly mowed grass and skidding through dirt plots just to have the biggest canvas possible! He wasn't even getting food out of it anymore! He just enjoyed messing with the humans and showing off his skills!

Meanwhile, the human race wasn't sure what to think of the crop circles. The intricate and beautiful designs didn't seem human in origin, but those that did claim they were made by aliens were written off as loonies that believed in little green men. If only they knew how strange the truth really was. If only they realized that their crop circles were made by a giant mechanical grasshopper with nothing better to do with his time.

* * *

The Insecticons made their way to a swamp. Swamps were great places to find water and decaying plants. It was also a good place to find vicious reptilian prey to munch on. For some reason Shrapnel loved food that put up a good fight.

Kickback threw a small rock in the air and caught it several times. He was bored, and ever since the others found out about his little "gifts" to the humans they had forbade him from going too far north again. They didn't care about his drawings, but they were concerned that he would go too far north and freeze. It wasn't fair! Though, it was probably his own fault for going to that place the humans called Scotland to draw an abstract picture of a butterfly on some rich human's lawn.

Kickback strolled along the marshy mushy ground in search of something to do. He looked around and saw a boulder with a piece of metal poking out of it.

"Hm…Did the humans leave that here?" Kickback wondered absentmindedly, "It's unguarded...Maybe I should eat it…"

Kickback dropped his rock and went over to the metal wedged in the rock; hoping to get a good meal out of it. Metal converted into such good energon. He brushed away the dirt and looked closely at the fragments. They opened up to a partial structure with Cybertronian sized chairs and broken down consoles. There were chew marks in the metal. It took a few minutes for Kickback to realize he and his brothers made those chew marks.

"So...We've been here before," Kickback muttered, "It seems vaguely familiar…"

He looked at the symbols on the side of the metal. He could just barely make out the words, but had trouble putting any meaning behind them. It had been millions of years since he had read anything! He struggled to force his systems to read the words, and when he did he was rewarded by the word _Ladybug_.

"Ladybug?" Kickback asked out loud, "What's that? Hm...It makes me think of Bombshell for some reason. Oh, yeah! He likes that name! He even named a ship after it! I think…"

The clouds in Kickback's mind didn't want to go away. He knew this piece of metal was important now, but he couldn't remember why. It made him think of Bombshell, and of stars, and of hunger. It had been a long time since he truly felt hunger. He didn't like that feeling, and he didn't like this piece of metal. Still, for some reason he felt the need to protect it. Something about this place was important, even if he couldn't remember why.


	6. Demon Swamp

_Author's Note: Well, this chapter is short, but I have a feeling the next chapter will be longer. After this I'm going to start getting into the cartoon series proper, but with a few more details for the sake of a more engaging story. Thank you all for your support so far, and I hope you enjoy this chapter of The Savage Earth :)_

* * *

Chapter 6

Demon Swamp

The Insecticons all stared at the metal sheet in the Boulder, but none of them could figure out what it was supposed to be. Still, it gave off an energy that reminded them of the planet they had left behind long ago: Cybertron. Each one tried to remember Cybertron, but it wasn't easy. They had been on this planet for millions of stellar cycles! Remembering what they used to be on Cybertron took all of their mental focus.

Shrapnel barely remembered anything at all. He thought of a pit where warriors would fight to the death. He had been both an audience member and a participant. He also remembered beautiful pink and purple liquid that gave off the purest form of energy in existence. Shrapnel touched the metal in the boulder almost reverently. Such violence, and such beauty...That was Cybertron.

Bombshell remembered faces. He remembered wings. Not like their wings. These wings stayed in place when their owners flew, and they were thin and sharp like knives. He also remembered working parts. He thought of processors, sparks, wires, and struts. Bodies that lay open before him and awaited his capable servos to fix them. He didn't remember how he did it, but he knew he was once a mech capable of repairing even the most severe of damage.

Kickback didn't want to look at it anymore. Something about that metal was evil. The feelings of hunger and loneliness lingered on this scrap of their old ship. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew this was their ship. This was the thing that had taken away their friends and their home! This cavern of death was where they had first become Insecticons. It was their womb and their tomb. He hated it regardless.

The three of them didn't say anything, but the agreement was reached nonetheless. They would stay here. They would live in this swamp and stay near this marker of their past so that no one could molest it. This was where they were supposed to be. By their memorial that they didn't remember.

Shrapnel was the first to gather some old vines and moss to drape over the massive boulder. Bombshell cut away the vines that draped over the hole. He still wanted a way to get inside. Together they camouflaged the space until it resembled little more than an oversized yurt. They shielded it, and they would stand sentry over it...At least until they got bored.

* * *

They noticed that not very many humans came by this swamp anymore. Something was keeping the flesh creatures away. They used to fish in this river all the time, but now...nothing. It was as if something had happened to the swamp to make the apex predators wary of it all of a sudden.

After a while Bombshell couldn't suppress his curiosity anymore. He flew into a nearby village of humans to see if he could figure out what was wrong with his swamp home.

He stayed out of sight and listened to their conversations for cycles! It was tedious work, but he knew something was wrong with the swamp, and he had to know what was going on. Finally, after a few cycles, he saw a little femme talking with her creator and he got the answer he was looking for.

"But why Mommy?" The girl pleaded with her mother, "Why can't we go play out there in the swamp?"

"Child hush!" Her mother said harshly, "That is Demon Swamp! There are monsters in there and they eat children like you! You must never ever go there! Understand?"

The little femme looked chastised, but Bombshell could see that the curious predator still wanted to go to the swamp. Humans were insatiable, and that was probably the only thing about them that Bombshell admired. Still, the words of the flesh creature were cause for concern…

Bombshell returned that night to inform the others of what he heard, and their reaction was...predictable.

" _Monsters_ monsters?" Shrapnel asked incredulously.

"That's what I heard," Bombshell replied matter-of-factly, "The humans are avoiding this place because of a vicious predator."

"Wait! What if it comes after us?" Kickback asked; alarmed, "I don't want to be eaten!"

"We're made of metal you idiot idiot!" Shrapnel scolded Kickback's cowardice, "We will find this demon, whatever it is, and crush it crush it!"

* * *

The next few days were spent in nervous anticipation. The three Insecticons hunted for the monsters by day and tried to recharge by night. They weren't very successful on either count. Even though they were sure it was nothing for them to worry about, in the back of their processors they were frightened. Humans were savage, and if the humans were afraid then it had to be something horrible!

After days of restlessness all three were frazzled. Kickback started holding a big stick to keep away the monsters; too recharge-deprived to remember that he had a slagging gun in his subspace! Shrapnel started living under the water to keep a close optic on the bottom of the swamp. After all, the monster could live there. Bombshell stayed up in the trees to watch from a higher vantage point for anything strange.

It wasn't long before Bombshell noticed something in the distance...Humans! There were two of them in a flimsy fishing vehicle made of wood. This was perfect! If anyone knew what the monster looked like it would be the humans!

Bombshell swooped down quick as a flash and grabbed the bow of the boat before the humans even knew what was upon them! The two helpless fishermen looked up at Bombshell with wide frightened optics! They were trapped, and there was no way to escape their certain doom!

"Humans! I have a question to ask you…" Bombshell said in a demanding voice.

"No!" The younger of the two fishermen dropped to his knees at the sight of the Insecticon, "Please, don't eat us, demon! I have a family! They need me! Please!"

" _Demon_?" Bombshell asked; more curious than affronted, "I want to ask you about the monsters."

"Please, we will never come near your swamp again!" The fisherman tried once more, "Just please let us go! We're sorry!"

That was when the situation started to make sense. The Insecticons themselves were the monster the humans feared! This whole time Bombshell, Shrapnel, and Kickback had been hunting _themselves_!

The absurdity of the situation made Bombshell laugh like a maniac! The fishermen shrank back at that high-pitched sinister laugh and hoped the unholy beast would let them leave unharmed.

Bombshell laughed until his side-struts hurt, and then he flew off to tell the others; completely forgetting about the humans.

When he told them they were both incredulous, but then one by one the other two Insecticons started laughing just like Bombshell had. Shrapnel even liked the idea of being a feared otherworldly being to these flesh creatures. Now they knew, this land was theirs, and anything that came near it was fair game. If the humans wanted to make them out to be man-eating demons, then who were they to disagree?


	7. Autobots

_Author's Note: Hi, everyone! Thank you all so much for your reviews! A lot of the dialogue in this chapter comes directly from the first episode the Insecticons appeared in on the Transformers G1 cartoon. In fact, the next few chapters will take place within that one episode! I know, who knew there was so much there? Also, just to let you know:_

 _/comm transmission/_

 _"Dialogue"_

* * *

Chapter 7

Autobots

It was another quiet day for the Insecticons. Shrapnel and Bombshell soaked in the swamp while Kickback sat up in a tree and kept watch. Kickback, needless to say, was bored. He always hated guard duty, but someone had to watch for animals to come by. Plants and moss gave them energy, but it wasn't the same as refined grain or animal flesh. He missed his crop circle days because then he could eat grain whenever he wanted.

Soon the monotony was broken when he saw three figures floating over the river. It was three wooden boats, being controlled by three human mechs!

/Kickback to Shrapnel and Bombshell./ Kickback said over the comm, /I have located 3 humans. They have bags on the boat, but I don't know what's in them. Advise./

Rather than answer the comm signal, Shrapnel jumped out of the water and tipped over one of the boats; using his electric blast on the other and breaking it in two!

The humans screamed, and Shrapnel felt a surge of adrenaline as he readied for another attack! Bombshell followed suit and wrecked the first boat, spilling its contents into the murky water below.

"Welcome to Demon Swamp Swamp!" Shrapnel shouted mockingly at the retreating humans.

Kickback watched as his teammates started eating the grain. There wasn't enough for him...Figures. He wasn't happy about it, but the most important rule in the Insecticons was that Shrapnel always ate first. _Always_.

"What are you waiting for Kickback Kickback?" Shrapnel snapped at him, "Your meal is escaping escaping!"

Kickback looked at the final boat and its three bedraggled occupants. So, he was going to get the flesh meal today. He knew Shrapnel was trying to be thoughtful, but Kickback preferred the grain over the humans any day.

"Well, I'd better hop to it, then!" Kickback said enthusiastically despite the lesser food he was about to receive.

He might not have wanted to eat human for lunch, but he was still happy to get to hunt. He was so bored! Kickback caught up to the boat of screaming humans and tore it in two just like his friends had done with the other boats. He was rewarded by seeing that there was another bag of grain! Yes! He didn't have to eat human!

Just as Kickback started digging in, however, he heard something from the humans that gave him pause…

"Quick! We can't let those monsters get to the farm!" A human shouted to his wary companions.

"Farm?" Kickback asked quickly; his head perking up like a dog being called for dinner, "More food to devour?"

"Exactly!" Shrapnel said triumphantly, "Kickback! Bombshell! Transform this food into energy energy!"

"It is done!" Bombshell proclaimed as he shot a jolt of pure electricity into the air.

With Shrapnel in the lead they decided that they were finally tired of hiding from the pitiful flesh creatures. There was a farm! There was more food! They would take it by any means necessary!

* * *

Taking the field was easy. There were a few humans, but all the Insecticons had to do was transform into their insect alt modes and dive down to stake their claim as the humans scattered like roaches! How ironic…

Shrapnel and Kickback were both starting to like the fact that the humans referred to them as monsters. Somehow it made them feel more important. Almost invincible.

They feasted with careless abandon on the delicious grain. Kickback was especially having a great time with this raid. Just sitting around in a swamp is so boring! He caught sight of a human vehicle coming closer, and the human actually jumped out of it to avoid getting too close to the Insecticons! It was too funny!

"I knew we should have sprayed the crops!" Kickback heard the human shouting as he ran.

"Fool!" Kickback yelled back even though the human was long gone, "There is no spray that can harm us!"

Then Kickback turned around and kicked the tractor; scattering its parts into a million pieces! He loved it when he could show off his superior leg power!

"How was _that,_ Shrapnel?" Kickback asked smugly.

"Restrain yourself Kickback Kickback!" Shrapnel scolded him, "We are here to feed, not to play play!"

Shrapnel didn't understand how Kickback was still this mischievous after millions of solar cycles! Frankly, Shrapnel felt like he was getting too old to deal with his friend's games. Kickback could be such a sparkling sometimes!

Just as Kickback was about to say something witty back at Shrapnel, he and the others noticed something off in the distance. It didn't look like earth vehicles. In fact, something about this situation seemed vaguely familiar. Bombshell noticed the red symbols on the intruders and comm'ed the others with his findings.

/What does it mean mean?/ Shrapnel asked over the transmission.

/I, um...I remember!/ Bombshell radioed in triumph, /Those are Autobots! They are our enemies! They will try to take this planet from us!/

That was all Shrapnel needed to hear. He had many upgrades that had never been tested. There were many emergency weapons, and many auxiliary controls. Soon they would taste battle, and the Autobots would pay for their intrusion!

Shrapnel and Bombshell were the first ones to fire on the Autobots! There seemed to be several of them, not the least of which was a jet taller than any mech they'd ever seen! He was probably the size of 4 or 5 Insecticons in robot mode and just as wide! Shrapnel used his electric blasts against their enemies, and Bombshell used the bombardier blaster on his head to shoot grenades at the offending Autobots!

Their weapons, good as they were, weren't enough for the Autobots! Soon the team of invaders were shooting at the Insecticons with everything they had, and it was clear that with their sheer numbers the Autobots were at a clear advantage. Well, the Insecticons could fix that…

"Looks like we have them outgunned!" An Autobot said over the chaos of cannon fire.

"But not outsmarted!" Shrapnel hollered at the Autobots.

That was Bombshell's cue. He fired a missile at the tractor Kickback had been messing with earlier and it exploded into many little pieces! This was their chance! The Insecticons used their own energy to form clones from the metal, resulting in a veritable swarm to attack the Autobots with!

It was too perfect! One of the minibots actually tried to go through the clones thinking they were just holograms! The shock on the Autobots' faces when they were attacked by the clone army was hilarious! Bombshell suppressed a smirk behind his face mask as he watched them squirm under the might of their new brethren.

"Still think they're optical illusions, Brawn?" The oversized jet asked the minibot.

"This is no illusion, Autobot!" Bombshell goaded his giant foe as he charged his weapon, "Prepare for termination!"

Emboldened by Bombshell's words, the Insecticons charge after the Autobots into the wheat field! As predicted, the Autobots ran away like little fleshies! They chased the Autobots for several minutes before losing them in the tall wheat fields.

 _How does a shuttle the size of a spaceship hide in_ grass? Kickback thought with an incredulous look on his face.

"The cowards have hidden from us!" Bombshell said with an odd mixture of victory and indignant disbelief.

Shrapnel had an easy solution to that problem. He fired his cutter bombs; a device designed to cut down grass and small trees. With the field cleared the Autobots would be easy pickings!

For some reason despite the cutter bomb they still couldn't find the Autobots. They were going to keep looking, but something in the sky distracted them. Several somethings in fact. The Insecticons looked up at the sky to see more Cybertronians coming their way! Were they Autobot reinforcements? What could this mean? Would they have to keep fighting until their energy gave out completely?

And to think this day started out so quiet…


	8. Decepticons Once More

_Author's Note: Remember when I said later chapters would be longer? Well...Oops. I guess not. Oh well. Might as well keep up the writing style I've been using thus far. This particular story seems to work best in snippets :)_

* * *

Chapter 8

Decepticons Once More

The strange new mechs landed before the Insecticons. The one who was clearly the leader of the group was an impressive steel grey mech that looked like the Unmaker himself! He grinned at the Insecticons, yet for some reason Shrapnel was not afraid. In fact, he felt reassured by this new presence. This was not lost on the others. They too could sense that something big was about to happen.

"I don't know you," Shrapnel said with a warm smile, "And yet I feel a kinship kinship."

"I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons!" Megatron replied magnanimously as he looked over the Insecticons, "Decepticon science generated you just as it generated us."

Bombshell comm'ed Shrapnel after hearing this statement.

/He's right!/ Bombshell informed Shrapnel, /His frame is that of a working class mech, yet he has a large cannon fused to his body directly connected to his spark chamber!/

/What are you saying saying?/ Shrapnel asked impatiently.

/I'm saying they are mutated to improve their function, just as we are!/ Bombshell replied excitedly.

This comm signal took less than a nano click, yet was enough to bolster Shrapnel's confidence in the new arrivals. They were Decepticons, and they were ruthless enough to overlook anything, even deformation, in the name of conquest! Those Autobots wouldn't know what hit them, and the Insecticons would have new allies on their planet!

"In that case," Shrapnel said with a broad smile, "It is my honor to ask you to assist us in obliterating these venerated scrap piles scrap piles!"

"With pleasure!" Megatron grinned wickedly as he readied his cannon.

Bombshell smiled behind his face mask. Shrapnel was trying to use big words and proper language to try to impress Megatron. Shrapnel might have been prideful, but even he could tell this silver plated mech was the queen of his hive and Shrapnel wanted to impress him. After all, Shrapnel knew as well as anyone else that the Insecticons looked like animals compared to these mechs, so a show of diplomacy and elocution would dissuade such thoughts. Although the rhinoceros beetle had to chuckle when he put the words _Shrapnel_ and _diplomacy_ together.

Just as they were readying for another attack, they heard a noise in the distance. It was the sound of engines racing to their location! The Insecticons looked. It looked like a human convoy but...A convoy with _race cars_?

All bedlam broke loose as a red car and a yellow car transformed and tackled Shrapnel and Kickback to the ground! Megatron grabbed the red car and threw him off Kickback with a mighty thud! The Autobots then came out of hiding and started to advance on the Decepticons now that their friends were there to help them!

"Decepticons, take to the skies!" Megatron shouted over the chaos.

Nobody had to tell the Insecticons twice! They didn't feel like getting their wings ripped off by a bunch of angry Autobots! The Decepticons flew in formation, and the Insecticons hung back a little to maintain their own formation. They wanted to have the Decepticons as allies, but for some reason they still felt out of place with them. Shrapnel looked back to make sure their clones had followed them, and smiled with pride as he saw them trailing the group.

Something felt different to Shrapnel about these clones. He and his friends could all make clones before they became Insecticons, but those were little more than solid holograms. These clones, however...They felt different. That was when Shrapnel noticed it...Their energy! Shrapnel could feel their energy; their sparks! These new clones were alive! That was when he realized he hadn't made a single clone since becoming an Insecticon. This was great! They could clone a new race to populate the entire planet with! A swarm of metallic locusts to suck the planet dry!

His thoughts were interrupted when he realized Megatron had been speaking and he wasn't paying attention.

/Bombshell, what did he say say?/ Shrapnel asked Bombshell over the comm.

/He said we're going to an oil refinery where there will be lots of energy!/ Bombshell reported jubilantly, /It's going to be turned into energon first! We'll actually get to taste real energon for the first time in hundreds of thousands of vorns!/

Shrapnel sighed contentedly when he thought about that. No doubt about it, this was the best thing to happen to them in ages.

* * *

They had been flying for a little over an hour. They were getting closer to the oil refinery, and the Insecticons could feel their mandibles watering! Suddenly though, Kickback stopped flying with them and started flying around erratically!

"What are you doing doing?" Shrapnel snapped at Kickback.

"I think there's bug in my optic!" Kickback complained as he flew around trying to wipe off his optics with his arm, "I'll catch up in a breem or two."

"You'd _better_ better!" Shrapnel hissed, "Meet back with us when you're through committing fratricide fratricide!"

Bombshell chuckled under his breath and continued to follow Shrapnel and the Decepticons. He was sure Kickback would be fine bringing up the rear with the clones.

"Megatron," Soundwave's monotone voice cut through the serenity of their flight formation, "My sensors indicate that we are no longer alone."

"Okay Insecticons," Megatron addressed them directly, "We'll take care of your clones and you take care of Skyfire!"

"With pleasure Megatron Megatron!" Shrapnel replied eagerly.

Then the Insecticons broke formation to go after the Autobots while the swarm went their way with Megatron and his army.

/Which one is Skyfire?/ Bombshell asked.

/That giant flying pain in the struts struts!/ Shrapnel answered curtly.

/Oh... _Him_.../ Bombshell replied with a long-suffering vent of air.

Kickback rejoined the group, and the three of them transformed into their insect modes. Bombshell was not looking forward to this. That jet was insane, and probably the Autobots' best fighter! Why else would they send him out ahead of the others? Shrapnel on the other hand was very much looking forward to this fight! He would exact sweet revenge on the Autobots for interrupting his breakfast and trying to take their planet, but mostly for _interrupting his breakfast!_

As they approached the hulking monstrosity in the sky, they could hear the Autobot jet say "What I wouldn't give for a laser-powered fly swatter!"

"Swat this, you Autobot slagger!" Kickback taunted as he launched an attack on Skyfire.

Skyfire swerved and Kickback missed his attack, but it didn't matter. Kickback was only a distraction! Shrapnel and Bombshell clamped down on the wings of Skyfire! Bombshell bit down on the left wing, and Shrapnel bit down on the right. Skyfire tried to swerve and maneuver to get the offending bugs off his wings; his systems feeling the sensitive metals being bent and torn by the little monstrosities! The Insecticons almost fell off, and Skyfire tried even harder to get the little things off his wings!

"Bite down! It's our only chance to hang on!" Bombshell shouted with his mandibles full of Skyfire-wing.

Kickback, meanwhile, was struggling just to keep up with the massive shuttle! The jet was performing stunts he didn't think that oversized toaster was capable of! He had almost made it to where Skyfire was when he saw another Autobot zooming up to the sky and closer to his friends and Skyfire!

 _Wait, is that one of the racers?_ Kickback thought incredulously. _How did a race car learn to_ fly _?_

His thoughts were interrupted by the white and green Autobot blasting Shrapnel and Bombshell off the jet's body! Kickback was outraged! That Autobot could've hurt his brothers! He wasn't about to take this lying down! Kickback was about to show this Autobot how he earned his name…

Kickback swiftly flew over to the Autobot racer before the white and green car could even figure out what was going on! Then Kickback turned around and gave a mighty pile driver kick to the Autobot's midsection; causing the challenger to fall to the ground!

The Autobots went to collect their fallen friend, and Kickback went back to see if Shrapnel and Bombshell were alright. They were lying on the ground rubbing the blast wounds to try to stop the pain, but they didn't seem hurt other than that. Kickback was so relieved to see everyone was alright!

Shrapnel ordered them to regroup and then go after the Autobots again. They were not defeated! This was not over!


	9. Round Two

_Author's Note: The system is still broken and not showing reviews, so I want to thank_ **Little Kunai** _for reviewing every chapter of this story so far! I always love to read reviews, even if I can only do it from my emails. Hopefully the website will fix this problem soon. Until then, thank you to everyone for your support and I hope you enjoy this little chapter :)_

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Chapter 9

Round Two

It took a while for the Insecticons to catch up to their Autobot prey. They had to get to Skyfire, but he was still too big and too powerful for them. Despite their weaponry and their tenaciousness the Autobot simply outmatched them. That was when Shrapnel told them it was time to change tactics. They were the most adaptable beings in the universe, and today was their chance to prove it!

"I'll give those ground Autobots a taste of my light waves light waves!" Shrapnel said with determination.

The light wave was one of Bombshell's experiments, and an untested one at that. They were designed to take control of a victim's motor functions, but had to be used at close range, so it wasn't the most practical of weapons. Still, if they could decrease the amount of backup available to Skyfire, then they might actually stand a chance against him! Shrapnel was starting to regret sending the clones away with Megatron. They would've definitely tipped the scales in the Insecticons' favor.

/Can I ask you a question?/ Kickback said over the comm.

/What _now_ now?/ Shrapnel asked irritably.

/Why did you name it the light wave?/ Kickback asked, /That's a stupid name./

/Shut up and get into position position!/ Shrapnel barked back at the younger mech.

Shrapnel shook his helm at the younger Insecticon. That overgrown grasshopper was going to be the death of him someday...

Shrapnel flew down a little lower and aimed his light wave beams toward those red and yellow headaches that had tackled them earlier! This would be the perfect vengeance against those Autobot goons!

Sure enough, the two Lamborghinis were swerving and unable to control their own driving thanks to Shrapnel's light wave! The Autobots were in total chaos as the red and yellow cars drove straight for them! Shrapnel had a slasher smile on his face as he tried to get the two Autobots to run over their friends! This would teach them to try to steal their planet from them!

Then, out of nowhere, a black painted Autobot uses a concentrated force field beam to disrupt the light wave! Shrapnel's helm was racked with pain as the Autobot's disruption field penetrated his defenses! He wobbled in the air as he tried to right himself again!

As if that wasn't enough, then the Autobot's leader grabbed one of his minibots and threw it at Shrapnel! The armor plated minibot assaulted the Insecticon mercilessly as the winged being tried to keep control of his flight pattern! His head hurt, and his body hurt! Everything hurt, and he couldn't get that miniature monster off his chassis!

Kickback saw what was happening and flew into the fray to aid his commander! He kicked the Autobot off with such force that the offending mech flew at least 35 meters away! Kickback looked to see if Shrapnel was alright, and surprisingly he didn't even stop flying! Kickback let out a sigh of relief.

Kickback turned back in time to see that wretched Skyfire had saved the minibot from crashing into the ground! The Autobot would've been broken into a million little pieces without the jet. Yet another reason for the Insecticons to hate that overgrown flying bathtub…

Shrapnel saw the Autobots regrouping and staring at the Insecticons with hatred and disgust in their optics. This was a losing battle, and he knew it. Shrapnel wasn't about to get himself and his team killed, even if he did hate the Autobots. Pride wasn't a luxury an Insecticon could afford.

"We've wasted enough time on the Autobots Autobots!" Shrapnel declared to the others, "On to the oil refinery, where we will claim our share of the energy energy!"

Bombshell and Kickback quickly obeyed their air commander's orders as they flew away from the battleground and made their way to the oil refinery.

* * *

As they drew closer to their destination they flew in silence. Each one was too busy with his own thoughts to worry about making idle chitchat.

Kickback replayed the battle in his mind. These Autobots were powerful, and it was everything they could do to save their own sparks from these monsters! He was kind of scared of them, but also angry. Those overgrown tin cans tried to offline his friends without so much as a second thought! What would he do if he lost Shrapnel or Bombshell? Or both? It made him shudder to think about it.

Bombshell's mind was on the Decepticons. He especially considered Megatron, and his mind kept trying to place that face with something he had seen long ago. Why did he seem so familiar? Who was he? For some reason when he looked at Megatron his chest plate swelled with pride, but he couldn't remember why. Were they related? Was Megatron important to him in his previous life on Cybertron? Who _was_ this metal monster?

Shrapnel was worried about the clones. He knew they were alive! He felt their partial sparks beginning for form! Oh sure, they were just mindless drones now but given enough time they would develop their own personalities and desires. They were like fully functioning fetuses at this stage, and he was worried about them being left alone with the Decepticons. What if the Decepticons only saw them as disposable bugs? What if that was all Shrapnel Bombshell, and Kickback were to them as well? How would he protect his friends...and his children?

One thing all three of them could agree on though was that they were all hungry! They had spent so much of their previously acquired energy on the fight, and now they desperately needed to get to the refinery to get their share of the energon! The trio only hoped Megatron would keep his word and give them their fair share.


	10. Unrefined Behavior

_Author's Note: I've been searching for new video game music to help me think about my writing (it helps), and I found a most interesting soundtrack. Mega Man X3 has a lot of great songs, and I noticed one that seemed too perfect for this fic. It was called Gravity Beetle, and the tune captured the mood I wanted for this fic perfectly! Truth is though, there were a lot of bug themes in that particular game. Just thought it was a neat coincidence :)_

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Chapter 10

Unrefined Behavior

When the Insecticons looked down at the docks of the oil refinery they saw the other Decepticons hard at work. There were stacks and stacks of delicious looking glowing cubes of energon! The clones were already there, but hanging back. Shrapnel almost felt as if the clones were afraid to get too close to the Decepticon soldiers.

The trio quickened their pace to get to the cubes and to the clones! Their clear wings were buzzing louder than any of them could remember! It was too good to be true! A real team, a real family, and _real energon!_

They landed before Megatron, who was casually leaning against a smoke stack. He wore a smug smirk that said victory was assured. With his kind of power it was. Now this was a leader they could get behind!

"You've been _busy_ in our absence absence…" Shrapnel observed as he looked at the stacks of translucent energon.

"Yes, and I'm sure fighting Autobots has given you an appetite," Megatron replied with a knowing smile.

The trio nodded in unison like a line of schoolchildren awaiting permission to go outside and play. Their large bug-eyed optics stared up at Megatron with a look that one could almost mistake for innocence. They had been waiting for so long…

Megatron pointed to a large boat docked in the water next to the building and said "Gnaw a hole in the side of that tanker and drink your fill of cool, refreshing oil!"

They didn't waste another second as they quickly flew to the tanker and ripped away the protective shell of rusted metal! They knew it wasn't energon, but they didn't care! The feeding frenzy had taken over their logic processors and all they felt was hunger! The oil graced their palates with its creamy embrace, and their cares melted away like the black liquid they were consuming. Bombshell was even careless enough to blow fire out of his nozzle; earning some rather sharp words from Shrapnel. Such was the bliss and airy playfulness of their feast.

They didn't even noticed when Skyfire showed up out of the blue to spoil their party! They were so focused on their meal that they didn't realize there was fighting going on around them!

Bombshell was the first to see Skyfire flying toward them at an incredibly fast pace!

"It's that crazy jet again!" Bombshell exclaimed in hopes his brothers would stop feeding and notice something was wrong.

Skyfire then whooshed past them, his wing nearly grazing the oil tanker, and knocked the Insecticons off their perch on the side of the boat! They all fell in the water half-dazed, but Bombshell knew a second before everyone else what was coming; he just didn't believe the Autobot was really that suicidal.

"Careful you fool! You'll set the whole place on fire!" Bombshell yelled up at Skyfire as the jet made his way back to the fray of the chaotic battle.

That was too close! If Bombshell or Shrapnel had been exhaling fire or electricity when Skyfire knocked into them they could've set off the oil in the water! Sometimes Bombshell wondered if Autobots even _had_ processors!

Kickback spit water out of his mandibles while Shrapnel actually drank some more! They were wading in the water like bath toys and trying to figure out what they should do next. It was a surprisingly boring near-death experience to almost be engulfed in flames by an Autobot nearly igniting oil. They looked at each other, each wondering what they should do next.

"My vote is to get back up on the tanker and keep eating," Kickback said first.

"We can't do that," Bombshell explained patiently, "The battle will cause this whole place to explode. If we're on that tanker when it blows then we're all goners."

"Then maybe we should leave leave," Shrapnel suggested in a surprisingly subdued tone.

"I don't think we should," Bombshell reasoned, "Megatron has not given us what we were promised yet. Besides, he and the others have been good to us. We should defend them against the Autobots and their treachery."

Shrapnel thought about that for a minute. He didn't really hold any special loyalty to Megatron, but he realized something else Bombshell hadn't thought of yet. Their clones were all here, and there was no way they could evacuate all of them alone, so their best bet to protect their new progeny was to stay here and fight the Autobots to drive them away from the refinery.

Shrapnel nodded once to show he was in, and the Insecticons flew up to see where they could be useful in the fight. They saw three Autobot's hiding behind a stack of crates waiting for their chance to attack the Decepticons. Shrapnel recognized the Autobot leader, the armored minibot that humiliated him, and the race car that shot at him and Bombshell. They were the perfect targets!

The Autobots had their backs turned to the Insecticons. They didn't even notice as the trio of bugs snuck up behind them! The Autobots turned around just in time to see Shrapnel pull his pistol out of subspace and aim for the trio of off-guard mechs! He fired one of his shrapnel grenades (surprisingly not named after himself), but the Autobots leapt out of the way just in time to avoid getting fried!

The Insecticons and their clones then started attacking whatever they could find! It was absolute madness on the battlefield as they could no longer tell what they were firing on! There were punches, kicks, and flying leaps as combatants from both sides tried to gain the upper hand! Someone actually set the water on fire when they shot the oil still floating freely from the holes in the tanker! Bombshell mentally shook his head and thought _I told you so_.

Just as it looked as if the Autobots might win, however, Kickback noticed something that would assure their victory...Rain clouds! Most Decepticons were superstitious and believed rain was back luck, but the Insecticons knew better. Shrapnel's electric powers were always magnified when there was a thunderstorm in the sky! He would electrocute every Autobot in their midst and let his clones feast on their bodies!

Bombshell also saw where this was going. Shrapnel wanted lightning, and waiting for it to happen by chance was risky. He knew his commander would need all the power he could get if they were going to stop the Autobots, so he fired on the clouds with one of his charge bombs!

Soon, the sky was painted with blinding light as the lightning poured from every direction in the clouds! Shrapnel held out his antennae as wide as they would go and braced his body for the electric charge that would soon engulf him! He felt raw power, and knew at that moment that nothing could stop him! He fed energy into the clones and still had a surplus for himself!

He attacked the Autobots with careless abandon and taunted them as he struck them down with lethal force! The fact that the Autobots were still standing was surprising, but Shrapnel felt it could be easily rectified. He zapped at them a couple more times and laughed with glee when they went tumbling down!

Then, he saw one of the minibots trying to run him over in its alt mode. That was just adorable! It was pathetic! The little yellow minibot trying to stop Shrapnel seemed laughable at first, but then when Shrapnel struck him he noticed that the Autobot was unaffected!

"Something's _wrong_ wrong!" Shrapnel exclaimed as the little volkswagen drew ever closer.

That was when he realized what had happened...rubber tires! The other Autobots had obviously figured this out as well, because they were riding on top of each other, robot modes on top of vehicle modes, to be able to repel the assault while still being able to strike back at the Insecticons! It was an absurd fight that would've been laughable if they weren't caught in the middle of it! Bombshell noticed out of the corner of his optic that Megatron was firing on the oil tanker, and Optimus Prime was trying to keep it from destroying them all. He started to have doubts about following Megatron, but that would have to wait until the fight was over.

Shrapnel, in his fury over being bested, sent his clone army to surround the yellow car and the human trapped inside! He sent every clone they had, and knew he would relish them tearing the little Autobot apart!

Then, something happened. The black Autobot that had interrupted his light waves before used the exact same trick again on Shrapnel to dislodge the energy beams he was using on the clones! This was disastrous! The clones were too young, and they couldn't handle being severed from their queen in the middle of a battle!

Sure enough, once the connection was severed they were easy pickings. In fact, the force field itself contained enough power to destroy every last clone!

" _No_! Our clones are _doomed_ doomed!" Shrapnel cried out as he watched their poor offspring offline before they even had a chance to live.

Shrapnel then ran over to his allies to see if they could salvage this mission. They were both gawking at Optimus Prime as he threw the tanker at Megatron; thus handing the Decepticon leader a humiliating defeat.

"Maybe we picked the wrong allies…" Bombshell finally expressed his doubts as he watched the silver mech flail in the water.

"We Insecticons need no allies allies!" Shrapnel declared resolutely, "We shall preserve ourselves!"

Shrapnel was right, Bombshell realized. They had lived alone on this planet for millions of years. They didn't need rescuers! They didn't need Decepticons! All they needed was each other and the wits that had helped them adapt to everything thrown at them!

That was when Bombshell noticed the energon cubes were unguarded. He flew over and a mere astro second later the other two followed him.

"We earned this energy!" Bombshell exclaimed as he and the others started digging into the solidified cubes. Nobody needed to explain it to them.

They ate quickly; realizing the Decepticons would never give them their fair share if they asked for it. They knew they would be chased away soon, but it almost didn't matter. While they weren't starving anymore, the battle had used up quite a few reserves, and this pure energon was the first they'd had in ages! It was glorious!

Soon, they were spotted by the Decepticons and forced to fly away! Megatron and his goons probably wanted to kill them, but the Insecticons had more fuel in their tanks and managed to get away from their pursuers within the hour.

* * *

Going back to Bali so soon would be dangerous, so the Insecticons sat around a campfire they made near the border of Yemen and Saudi Arabia. They had flown out of their way, but it was worth it to get away from the wrath of Megatron.

As they sat around the fire nobody wanted to talk.

Kickback was still reeling after the fight with the Autobots. He hated them! They tried to hurt him and his friends! They were monsters, and they would pay! He just knew they were trying to invade their planet and steal their food! He wished he could shoot their leader right between his smug optics! He couldn't remember ever hating anyone this much before, but then again he wasn't sure he ever had a reason to.

Bombshell was mostly just confused. He had seen a lot of stupidity on the battlefield from both sides that day. That Skyfire was so reckless, and Megatron nearly blew them all up for no good reason! Optimus seemed smart enough, but he was far too soft sparked. Bombshell just silently shook his head and tried not to think too hard about the idiocy of their strange bedfellows. He wouldn't be surprised if Megatron's last words were "What does that button do?"

Shrapnel, meanwhile, was inconsolable. He stared into the fire and lost himself in its embers. The warmth did nothing to stop the chill that was settling in his spark. This went on for a while, but then finally Kickback noticed something was wrong.

"Hey Shrapnel, what's wrong pal?" Kickback asked, "You're not still in pain from the Autobots attacking you, are you?"

"No…" Shrapnel said so quietly he could barely be heard, "It's just...They were _alive_ alive. The Autobots killed our clones clones…"

"Yeah, so?" Kickback asked, "We'll just make more."

"Don't you understand, Kickback?" Shrapnel snapped viciously, "We _created_ created! Those were sparklings sparklings! The Autobots killed our _children_!"

"Trailbreaker," Bombshell suddenly cut into the conversation.

"What?" Kickback asked obliviously.

"The Autobot that murdered our clones," Bombshell elaborated, "His name was Trailbreaker."

They sat in silence for a few minutes and mentally chewed on that information. For those few minutes the only sound came from the desert wind and the crackling of their fire. Bombshell and Kickback waited for Shrapnel to speak first. They felt it was the most respectful thing they could do. After all, he was their commander. If those clones had lived then he would've been their queen. He had lost more than any of them that night.

When Shrapnel said nothing, Kickback couldn't stand it anymore. He had to say something!

"Don't worry, Shrapnel!" Kickback said consolingly, "When we find the Autobots responsible for this we will rip their limbs off and feed them to our new clones! We will make them rue the day they ever messed with the Insecticons!"

Shrapnel thought his young friend sounded far too eager, but he was still grateful for the support of his comrade. Kickback was right. They would be alright, and they would see the Autobots punished for daring to turn their lives upside down! They were Insecticons, and if there was one thing they could do it was meet a challenge.


	11. Return of The Revenge

_Author's Note: I changed the rating of this story from K+ to T just to be safe. I realized that chapter 3 of this story was kind of messy. I guess gore is kind of a grey area when it's robots. It was probably fine, but better safe than sorry. I hope everyone has liked this story so far. Please review, follow and favorite, and thank you for sticking around this far :)_

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Chapter 11

Return of The Revenge

Kickback wished he could control his impulses. If he hadn't decided to surprise his commander with a great new present, then he wouldn't be trapped like a turbo rat in a tunnel. His legs were so cramped in that stupid air vent!

He was crouched in an air ventilation system in Autobot Headquarters looking down in a darkened room where a bunch of Autobots were gathered around a large screen watching a human television program. A _movie_ , they called it. He didn't like movies. Not after having to watch them through a bunch of tiny slits in a grate while his legs atrophied!

"Man, I hate sequel night!" Gears complained from the front row, "First it's Return of the Jedi, and then it's Revenge of the Sith, and after that it's Return of the Living Dead!"

"Don't forget the Batman Beyond movie!" Bluestreak replied helpfully.

"Yeah...Return of the Joker!" Gears groused, "Why are sequels always about the bad guys returning? Okay, I guess the Jedi were the good guys, but my point still stands! These human movie titles are so uncreative! It's always about returning or revenge or something rising back from the dead! Do humans think their enemies are _that_ hard to get rid of?"

"If you think about it, they are," Jazz supplemented, "Maybe we should make a movie: _Return of the Revenge of the Decepticons Strike Back_! I'm sure ol' Buckethead would love the publicity."

Everyone except Gears laughed, and Kickback couldn't help but suppress a chuckle at that one from his position in the grate. Megatron was harder to get rid of than cosmic rust, and about as pleasant. Over the months since they'd met the leader of the Decepticons the Insecticons' relationship with him had been...strained, to put it politely. He would offer to pay them energon for their assistance but more often than not he would cheat them of their fair share. It was irritating to say the least.

Since then they had also tried to make more clones, but the end was always the same. Their clones would be destroyed by the Autobots. There was one Autobot in particular that vexed the Insecticons to no end, but this indignity would soon be resolved if Kickback's self-appointed mission was successful. Shrapnel would be so happy!

"Hey Gears, knock it off!" Bumblebee complained, "I'm trying to watch the movie!"

"You've already seen it," Gears grumbled, "We all have! When are we gonna get some new material?"

"When Prowl authorizes it," Perceptor informed him, "He has been very busy lately and hasn't had time for the more mundane end of his job."

"You're welcome!" Sideswipe proclaimed proudly as other Autobots started pelting him with pillows.

Kickback had to keep himself from sighing or moaning. He was tired of just laying there waiting for something to happen! He wanted to _move_ , but he couldn't afford to lose his target! He had to wait until his target was alone, but it was so slagging boring to just sit there and watch Autobots watch TV!

"An interstellar ship could never do that!" He heard one complain.

"Shh! It's just a movie!" He heard another one say.

"Hey guys, you think Wheeljack will make us some of those cool lightsabers?" Yet another voice asked.

"I think it's the intellectual property of the humans," another one whispered.

Kickback was close to banging his head against the orange metal wall when the movie credits finally started to roll. He was so relieved, but then he heard someone say "Who wants to watch the next one?" and felt himself shudder with irritation.

Kickback felt like crying out in frustration! He couldn't take much more of this! Why did his target have to be such a lazy glitch? He had been sitting there for a joor! An entire joor just watching human movies!

"Hey guys! You want me to go get some high grade for the next picture?" Trailbreaker asked as he stood and headed for the door.

"Great idea, Trailbreaker!" Sideswipe replied enthusiastically, "Bring one for me!"

"Me, too!" Sunstreaker hollered as the black and red SUV left.

 _Oh, thank Cybertron!_ Kickback thought as he watched Trailbreaker leave. _He's out and finally alone!_

Kickback scuttled over to where the Autobot was heading, and was pleased to see it was Trailbreaker's personal quarters! This was perfect! There were no cameras in here...Well, maybe one, but Kickback had already figured out where it was so that wasn't a problem. Now was the time to strike!

Trailbreaker hummed a Cybertronian tune as he stacked a few cubes of dark purple high grade neatly on top of a dining tray. Their next movie was Revenge of the Sith, and he'd never seen it so he was looking forward to it. It had been a nice lull time with no Decepticon activity, and it was nice to relax every once in awhile.

Just as he was heading toward the door, Trailbreaker heard a loud knocking noise coming from the air vent above his berth! He was alarmed, and quickly set the cubes down on his desk and reached for his comm signal button on his head.

/Trailbreaker to Red Alert! I have a- _kzztzzt.../_

Trailbreaker's signal was cut off when Kickback jumped down and landed a quick and powerful blow to Trailbreaker's head! The Autobot was knocked into stasis and soon was being carried away by the victorious Insecticon!

Kickback flew away with his prize before the Autobots ever got to the room to see what had happened. By the time they figured out who had stolen their mech it would be too late! Shrapnel would enjoy his feast! Kickback only hoped he would share with his friends…

* * *

Trailbreaker awoke with a massive helm-ache! He could feel his systems slowing coming back online, but his audio receptors were the first thing to come back fully. He listened in an effort to figure out what had happened to him. He could hear clicking and hissing sounds faintly in the background, but nothing intelligible.

The Autobot tried to move his arms, only to find they were tied behind his back! He tried to move his legs, but they were tied together as well. Finally, he had to see what was going on, so he onlined his optics. He looked to see two red optics staring back at him so closely that it was difficult to make out anything else! Trailbreaker involuntarily shrieked when he saw that Decepticon face so close to his own! When the owner of those optics backed away from him, Trailbreaker could see that it was Shrapnel! He knew then that he was in serious trouble!

"Excellent, he's awake awake," Shrapnel said offhandedly as he turned to look at Kickback.

Trailbreaker turned to see Kickback standing off to the left side of Shrapnel. He saw the walls were metallic but in a horrible state of decay. It was dark in the room, but there was a small fire in the middle of the floor to illuminate the center of the room. Every console was broken, and it looked as if several had bite marks in them! Not exactly the coziest place on earth...

"So, where's Bombshell? He'll want to see this," Kickback asked Shrapnel.

"Oh, he's off with Megatron Megatron," Shrapnel waved away the question, "Says he's going to reprogram an earth robot robot."

"Why does he like working with Megatron so much?" Kickback asked dejectedly, "He's hardly here anymore! He doesn't even like the Decepticons, so why?"

"Who cares cares?" Shrapnel shrugged, "For now our priority is the disposal of this Autobot Autobot!"

Trailbreaker's spark sank in his casing. These monsters weren't trying to ransom him. They were going to kill him, and they were probably going to eat him!


	12. Happy Anniversary

_Author's Notes: It seems lately that I have too many ideas and not enough time, so I set up a poll on my profile to ask you guys which of my plot bunnies I should focus on next. I hope you'll vote, because I've got 4 ideas to decide from. Thank you for all your support! Please review, favorite, and follow :)_

* * *

Chapter 12

Happy Anniversary

Trailbreaker didn't want that overgrown cockroach any closer to him than necessary, so he put up a force field to keep the disgusting Insecticon leader away from him! It seemed to be working, but Shrapnel was smarter than he looked.

"I can wait wait," Shrapnel said as he sat down in front of Trailbreaker, "You will run out of energy soon enough, and when you do we'll be there to rip your force field generator out from your rusting carcass!"

Trailbreaker gulped. He knew as well as they did that he couldn't keep this up forever. He only hoped the Autobots would notice he was gone before his power cells ran dry. He wondered if it would buy him time if he kept them talking…

"I have to say Kickback, this is a wonderful anniversary present present," Shrapnel commended his friend as he set aside a crate of ketchup for the occasion.

"Anniversary?" Trailbreaker asked in an effort to start a conversation.

"Yes! Today is the two year anniversary of the deaths of our first clones clones," Shrapnel replied in a deceptively sweet tone, "You know, the ones you _killed_ killed!"

Trailbreaker's visor went wide, and he knew then exactly why he had been taken by Kickback. This wasn't just hunger...This was revenge!

* * *

Meanwhile, Bombshell was raiding every scientific device from Megatron's lab that wasn't glued down! The robot slave had been a failure thanks to Starscream's sabotage (what else was new?). While Megatron chased after his wayward SIC with his cronies Bombshell had flown back to the Decepticons' temporary headquarters and stole a bunch of equipment for his own use.

Despite the volatile nature of their relationship, Bombshell really did enjoy hanging out with the other Decepticons. Oh, he didn't actually enjoy their company, but he did love the ability to work on scientific projects. The more time he spent with his surly allies, the more knowledge he regained from his past life on Cybertron.

Bombshell loved living the simple life of an Insecticon, but he also missed the perks that came from civilization. He loved hacking into processors and making other mechs his slaves, and he loved perfecting the bodies of his patients (whether they were willing participants or not). He was the type of mech that would look at the Human Centipede movie and think it was a human Gestalt unit's origin story. Yeah, he still wasn't playing with a full deck.

As he bagged up some laser scalpels and subspaced more processor chips, he got a comm transmission from Kickback.

/Bombshell, where _are_ you?/ Kickback asked the question as a rebuke, /Shrapnel has just finished setting the table! By the time you get here the Autobot will be ice cold and taste like a used Pinto!/

/Keep your transistors on! I'm coming!/ Bombshell groused, /I just need to finish up here in the lab. Oh, by the way! I have a great new invention you guys will want to see! Look forward to it!/

/Well we can't see it if you don't come back!/ Kickback snapped impatiently, /We even have ketchup and barbecue sauce. Oh, and if you want I think I know where you can find some rusty water to wash him down with./

/We can talk about it when I get back!/ Bombshell replied, /Just keep him alive until I get there! I want to examine his force field generator while it's still fresh...Bombshell out!/

* * *

"Is Bombshell going to bring some spare metal metal?" Shrapnel asked, "Making more clones would be the perfect way to cap off this celebration celebration!"

"I don't know," Kickback replied, "It didn't come up."

Trailbreaker was starting to get weak, and he didn't know how much longer he could hold out. He tried to break his restraints, but they were fastened tight and wouldn't budge no matter what he did. His force field was starting to flicker, and soon it would give out completely. Then he would be at the Insecticons' nonexistent mercy.

"Look! The shield is weakening!" Kickback exclaimed as he looked at Trailbreaker with predatory glee.

"Did you get the rust water from the cave cave?" Shrapnel asked, "Bombshell will want it."

"Not yet, but I can get it now," Kickback replied.

"Don't just stand there then then!" Shrapnel ordered, "Hop to it!"

Kickback transformed into his bug mode and flew away to get the water while the Insecticon commander stayed behind to watch their prisoner.

Trailbreaker's visor seemed to blink in time with his force field. Such a useful sigma ability, but Shrapnel knew it couldn't stand up against his patience. More often than not Trailbreaker was the one to kill their clones, and he was also the one that killed them the first time. To have vengeance after so long, well...He would have to think of an enemy to serve on a silver platter for Kickback to repay him.

Bombshell touched down just as the last of Trailbreaker's shield gave way! Trailbreaker was offline in a matter of seconds! The Autobot's systems had forced themselves into a temporary stasis lock to conserve what little energy he had left.

"It's about time you got here got here here!" Shrapnel bellowed, "You take out any parts you want for your experiments, but leave his spark for me me! I want to feel it's warmth before it goes out out!"

"Wait, before we kill him, I want to test my new invention on him first!" Bombshell insisted.

"Alright, but hurry up!" Shrapnel snapped; eager to feed before his own systems gave out like the Autobot's.

Bombshell positioned the Autobot so he could have a clean shot of him. Trailbreaker was still out cold, so he offered no resistance. Bombshell removed his leg and arm cuffs before he stepped back five paces. Bombshell then aimed the gun turret on his head and fired a grenade at Trailbreaker!

Trailbreaker's body broke into several large pieces! His spark was still functioning, but barely. He wouldn't last but a few minutes in such a condition, and with no new body in sight it looked hopeless.

"That's not a new invention invention!" Shrapnel contested, "You've always had a grenade launcher launcher!"

"The grenade is not my invention," Bombshell replied; unperturbed, " _This_ is!"

He then pulled out a small device that was no bigger than the center of Bombshell's palm. He ran his index finger over it a few times to get the settings just right, and then he shot the pieces of Trailbreaker with the invention; putting him miraculously back together again!

" _Amazing_ amazing!" Shrapnel gasped.

"Yes, now even if we're blasted into oblivion we can still survive!" Bombshell bragged as he put his new little invention in his subspace, "I plan on implanting these into our helms, but who knows when I'll have time. Megatron certainly does seem to need a lot of help."

Trailbreaker, meanwhile, was starting to regain consciousness. The device had not only put him back together but had also given him a slight energy boost. Still, it wasn't enough to escape on, and soon those mechanical bugs would remember him and eat him. The situation really did look hopeless for Trailbreaker.

The group then heard something coming from the bushes, but assumed it was Kickback coming back with the rusty water. Only when Shrapnel suddenly fell to the ground with a sickening _crunch_ did anyone suspect something was wrong! An invisible force moved away from Shrapnel's unconscious body, and Bombshell knew then there was only one mech it could be...

Bombshell turned his head every which way to aim for the source of the attack, but he couldn't find the enemy and thus had no one to shoot. He stood there turning around for almost a minute before he was shot in the chest and offlined!

When they were both out cold Mirage uncloaked himself. Trailbreaker was so happy to see him, and together they made their escape!

Kickback arrived just in time to see Shrapnel and Bombshell waking up after their impromptu visit from the Autobot spy. Kickback felt like a bad watchdog that let a burglar run off with all the furniture. He sat down on the mud floor of the hollowed out boulder/spaceship and sulked.

"Stupid Mirage!" Bombshell grumbled, "I remember when he was nothing but our slave! He was good at his job then, too. Maybe we should adopt him."

"That's not funny funny!" Shrapnel bonked Bombshell on the head to emphasize his point.

"Aw, I'm sorry Shrapnel," Kickback said miserably, "I just wanted you to be happy. I just hoped that this would avenge the deaths of our clones and give you peace of mind for making more sparklings."

"It's alright, Kickback. I understand understand," Shrapnel said consolingly, "Happy anniversary, you slaggers."

Shrapnel then did something he normally would never do. He hugged his fellow Insecticons.


	13. Kickball

_Author's Note: This is just a breather chapter with some stupid Insecticon fluff. I couldn't help myself... Polls are still open for my next fanfic's subject. Hope you enjoy this next chapter of The Savage Earth :)_

* * *

Chapter 13

Kickball

Kickback was lost, yet somehow still bored. Bombshell was helping Megatron with yet another stupid get-rid-of-Autobots scheme, and Shrapnel had been recharging for the better part of an orn! With nothing else to do Kickback started flying to see where in the world he could wind up. He wound up lost…

He didn't recognize the land mass he had flown to. He thought it kind of looked like a human foot, but otherwise he had no idea where he was. It was dark, but would be light in about an earth hour, so Kickback found a nice body of water to settle near and soaked for a while. He found himself at a river with lots of wooden boats and colorful buildings on either side. It was like Demon Swamp, only without the trees.

As he relaxed in the water and gnawed on a boat Kickback listened to the sounds of the city. It was weird that the place was so quiet when it looked like a lot of humans lived there. Then, out of the corner of his audios, he heard a bouncing noise.

 _KABONK_! _KABONK_! _KABONK_!

It sounded like something impacting a wall, but Kickback couldn't figure out what it was. He had never heard such a strange sound before!

The dawn was just starting to peek out over the pink and purple clouds when the Insecticon flew over to the source of the noise. There, in an alleyway, was a human youngling bouncing a bright blue sphere against a wall over and over again by kicking it repeatedly. The ball was as big as a cantaloupe, but it didn't look like it weighed much of anything!

The small boy was unaware of his new audience as he continued to kick the ball against the brick wall ahead of him. His face would go from looking concentrated to happy to angry all within the span of a few minutes! Kickback just stood there in the mouth of the alley and watched with fascination as the beautiful blue sphere impacted the building again and again. Finally, curiosity got the better of him.

"Why are you doing that?" Kickback asked; his voice cutting through the quiet.

The boy gasped and dropped his ball! He backed against the wall as his eyes went wide with shock and horror! Kickback saw the ball bounce a few times and then finally roll languidly toward his feet. He grabbed the ball and examined it while the boy kept his gaze fixed on the monster in front of him.

Finally, after staring at the ball for a minute, Kickback turned back to the youngling human and shouted "Answer my question!"

"W-w-what question?" The boy stammered nervously.

"What is this thing for?" Kickback asked again as he held up the ball for the boy's inspection.

"That's just my ball," the boy answered uncertainly, "I was using it to practice soccer with. I was cut from my school's team, and I thought they might let me back on if I got better. I don't have a soccer ball to practice with though, so I use that bouncy ball. It's hard to practice without a real ball, or a net, or other people to play with though. Maybe I should give up."

"If you give up, can I have the ball?" Kickback asked insensitively.

"Sure…" The boy replied quietly as he stared at the ground.

Kickback almost left with the ball in that moment, but something made him stop. He stared down at the little human's miserable expression, and something clicked inside his processor…

"Why don't you practice with your friends?" Kickback asked as if that should be the most obvious answer in the world.

"I don't have any friend," the boy replied, "Nobody likes me."

"Why? Did you kill someone important?" Kickback asked.

"What? _No_!" The boy replied; appalled, "I'm just a loser is all. I'm short and broke and I have trouble saying the right thing to people sometimes."

"Losers can have friends," Kickback shrugged indifferently, "My friend Shrapnel is a pain in the afterburners with a weird speech pattern. My friend Bombshell once tried to dissect a rock because he didn't know they don't have internal organs. I used to spit out my food and call it photosynthesis! Oh, and we all have to flap our wings and eat organic food even though nobody else on Cybertron does that. My point is, the three of us are losers by most mech's standards, but we're good enough for each other. So you should go out there and find other human losers that you find tolerable and that will tolerate you too, okay?"

"Gee, thanks Mr. Robot," the boy replied gratefully as he wiped his nose with his shirt, "I guess when you put it that way, maybe I could try to make friends with some of the kids at school. Just not Alfonzo Rizzatto! He's a real jerk!"

The boy laughed and Kickback started bouncing the ball against the wall just like the boy did. After a few minutes he looked down to see the boy still hadn't left yet.

"Say, kid...You want to kick the ball back and forth to see who has the better aim?" Kickback asked,

"Sure!" The boy replied excitedly, "By the way, my name is Pepito. What's yours?"

"Kickback."

The pair spent the better part of the sunny Saturday morning playing kickball with one another. They both completely lost track of time until Kickback got an unwelcome comm transmission.

/Kickback! This is Shrapnel Shrapnel! Where are you?/

/Uh.../ Kickback still didn't know where he was.

/Don't answer that. Just return to base immediately immediately! The Autobots have been snooping around around!/

Kickback then turned to Pepito and said "I'm sorry, kid. I've got to go. Shrapnel is breathing down my transistors to return home. Something about our enemies trying to break in again."

"Oh, okay…" Pepito was disappointed to see his new friend go, but then he asked hopefully "Hey Kickback, will I ever see you again?"

"No," Kickback replied simply, "Frankly I'm surprised I found this place the first time!"

With those unceremonious parting words Kickback took to the skies once again and hoped he wasn't too late to fight off the Autobots. Actually, he just hoped he wasn't too late for dinner. As he was leaving he realized something...He forgot the ball!


	14. Friendly Competition

_Author's Notes: Wow...This chapter took longer to write than it should have. I've had other fanfics to work on, so I've kind of neglected this one. I'm not through with The Savage Earth yet though, and I do have an ending planned! Don't know if it'll be the next chapter or the one after that. At any rate, thank you all for reading this story and reviewing it, too! I always enjoy hearing from you :)_

* * *

Chapter 14

Friendly Competition

Ever since that day when Kickback played ball with that human boy he started to realize how much he liked human sports. He would oftentimes sneak away from the rest of the group so he could spy on a human soccer game or catch a round of drag racing. It was fascinating to see what lengths the humans would go to just to prove they were the best at something. Didn't they realize that any of them could be easily squashed by a minibot no matter how good they were at kicking a ball?

Kickback collected a bunch of vines and started rolling them together over time until he had a perfectly round ball that was the perfect size for him to play kickball with. No matter how good the humans were, he knew he was better!

* * *

Bombshell, meanwhile, was having trouble figuring out the internal structure of the Decepticon chain of command. He saw that Megatron was the queen, Starscream was second to him, and Soundwave was third, but he didn't understand _why_.

In Bombshell's mind a subservient drone like Soundwave would make a much better SIC than a temperamental harpy like Starscream. Why did Megatron let that traitorous rat survive, let alone be his right hand mech?

He watched with fascination as Megatron and his liability of a SIC started arguing once again.

"I'm telling you Megatron this plan will never work!" Starscream shouted viciously.

"You have no imagination, Starscream…" Megatron said almost mournfully.

"It's a _giant purple gryphon_!" Starscream screamed as he threw his arms up in frustration, "You really want to try to conquer the earth with a giant purple bird monster?!"

Starscream was answered with a painful punch to his jaw! Megatron lifted his fusion cannon and seemed to silently dare Starscream to object further. Starscream did not answer that challenge, instead choosing to sulk and play the victim for all he was worth.

Bombshell watched this display with fascination and confusion. Starscream wasn't very respectful to his queen. Why did Megatron believe he was worthy of a position as high as second in command? Finally, he could stand it no longer! He had to ask him!

When Bombshell voiced this obvious question Megatron stared at him for a moment with his hand resting on his chin. The old gunformer seemed to ponder his words. At last, he felt he had an answer for the Insecticon.

"Do you know how I chose my ranks in the first place, Bombshell?" Megatron asked the rhinoceros beetle.

"No, Megatron. I never thought about it before," Bombshell replied.

"Millions of years ago I held a tournament, much like the gladiatorial matches I was forced to fight in when I was young," Megatron explained as he reminisced on his old life and his rise to power, "That tournament decided who lived and rose to power, or who died due to their own weakness. It was a measure of physical and mental strength and capability. Starscream won that tournament, and earned his place as my right hand mech! Even now, despite all of his treachery, I still recognize the talents that brash overconfident seeker possesses."

"I see," Bombshell nodded studiously, "So there are many people who want your job?"

"Indeed, but I am the leader because I am strong!" Megatron bragged, "Now I am curious Bombshell...How exactly did you Insecticons choose your leader?"

"Well, we, um...didn't," Bombshell admitted bashfully, "I was leader once, and then Shrapnel was leader. We never really discussed it. It just happened."

"You allowed him to usurp your throne? Just like that?" Megatron asked disdainfully, "I would sooner die than allow one of my underlings to defy my authority! That display of prowess is what separates the Decepticons from the Insecticons! You'd do well to remember that, if you ever hope to be more than what you are right now."

Those words stung Bombshell like an angry wasp. Megatron had called him many names out of spite before, but this was different. He wasn't insulting the Insecticons by calling them inferior...He was stating it like a fact.

Bombshell knew then...The Insecticons needed to formally decide who was going to be in charge. Which of them deserved to be called queen?

* * *

Bombshell returned to Bali to find Shrapnel standing out in the rain with his hands spread out as if to greet the roaring thunder clouds. Kickback was tossing around a collection of vines that had been formed into a sphere. The lightning struck Shrapnel and he laughed with unsuppressed glee!

"That's it! Feed me feed me!" Shrapnel called out to the heavens above.

"You are so weird, Shrapnel!" Kickback quipped from his spot on a drooping tree.

"Insecticons, we need to discuss something important," Bombshell said without preamble.

The other two gave Bombshell their undivided attention. He almost hated to discuss this now when they were so relaxed and having fun, but their status as superior beings was at stake! He had to get this over with! Shrapnel and Kickback listened as Bombshell explained their need to officially determine which of them was the leader. Kickback seemed fascinated by the idea, but Shrapnel fidgeted and looked wary of the prospect. He didn't want to potentially surrender his position to Bombshell or (heaven forbid) Kickback!

"So Bombshell...How exactly would this work work?" Shrapnel asked when Bombshell was finished explaining.

"I thought of that," Bombshell told him, "I think we should each think up one area of competition. That will make 3 contests total. Whoever wins 2 of the 3 contests will be our official queen! How does that sound?"

"Sounds great great! Bring it on on!" Shrapnel challenged, "I will decide the first test! I say we...Have an eating contest contest!"

"An eating contest?" Kickback repeated, "Sound like fun! What are the rules?"

"We go to a tall building in one of the human cities and start munching on a wall!" Shrapnel explained, "Whoever gets to the bottom of the building first is the winner winner! Think you can handle it, _junk piles_ junk piles?"

"I'm gonna eat so fast you won't know what hit you!" Bombshell declared proudly, "Let's go!"

With that the three Insecticons took to the air and scouted a location for their eating contest.

* * *

They arrived an hour later in Shanghai, China. They chose a building that was about 30 meters tall and flew to the roof. They each took their own side so no one could argue they inadvertently assisted another Insecticon.

"Hey, cool! This place makes pie!" Kickback exclaimed as he read the factory's sign.

"Never mind that!" Shrapnel snapped, "On your marks, get hungry, eat eat!"

The three Insecticons started chowing down on the building with reckless abandon. Bombshell thought he was winning due to the fact that he hadn't had anything to eat all orn, but Kickback was catching up quickly! What he couldn't see was that Shrapnel was already halfway down the building! His larger mandibles made eating the walls of the building even easier.

The human workers saw the walls being leveled by the monster bugs and screamed! They tried to run, but there was nowhere to run to! If the Insecticons made it to the ground level first then they could accidentally eat anyone who was trying to escape the building! Most workers chose to stay where they were and hoped the giant bugs didn't notice them.

There was no danger of that happening. The Insecticons were too engrossed in their power games! It took 11 minutes exactly for Shrapnel to reach the bottom first! He whooped and cheered in victory! He never was a graceful winner.

Bombshell and Kickback stopped eating then. Both felt sick from consuming so many bricks, and Kickback actually purged his fuel tanks after he hopped down!

"That's Shrapnel one, and losers zero zero!" Shrapnel bragged at his two companions, "So chumps, what's next next?"

"I choose the next competition!" Bombshell shouted defiantly, "And I choose a trivia contest!"

"Who are we going to get to ask the questions?" Kickback asked.

"Hm…" Bombshell thought for a minute before saying, "Meet me back at Demon Swamp! I'll bring back a flesh creature to ask us questions!"

Bombshell then flew away, and soon Shrapnel and Kickback flew off in the opposite direction. Shrapnel was already feeling better about this competition. Soon he would earn his place as their true commander!

* * *

Shrapnel was kicking up a bunch of moss and foliage as he took out his anger on the landscape! The human that had asked the questions was cowering away from the vengeful Insecticon and hoping he would be allowed to leave. Bombshell had easily won the competition since he had the most knowledge of earth's topography, native life, and had even studied human history before the competition. Oh, he was a crafty one, and was also a tactless winner just as Shrapnel had been before.

"In your faceplate, Shrapnel!" Bombshell danced around Shrapnel and overall made a fool out of himself.

"Alright guys, so that's Shrapnel one, and Bombshell one," Kickback tabulated the results, "There's just one competition left, and I get to decide what it is!"

While he was talking the human snuck away. He didn't know how he would get out of Demon Swamp, but anything was better than getting eaten or stomped on by those monstrous bugs!

"Alright Kickback Kickback," Shrapnel intoned, "What test do you insist upon?"

"Soccer!" Kickback exclaimed jubilantly.

"What in the pit is soccer?" Bombshell asked skeptically.

"Well, if I remember correctly, each team has a net to defend, and the teams kick around a ball and try to get it into another's team net in order to score a point. You can't use your hands, and each team wears a different color so you can tell them apart," Kickback explained, "Simple enough, right?"

"Oh, you mean football!" Bombshell exclaimed once he figured out what Kickback was talking about, "Yes, yes! That game is simplicity itself! Still, how are we going to get team colors to wear?"

"We don't need to wear anything," Shrapnel insisted, "There's only one Insecticon per team team."

"Fair enough," Kickback agreed, "I'll go get the ball and then we'll build our nets!"

* * *

Needless to say, this was not soccer in the conventional sense. There were three nets, one for each Insecticon, and they were playing with a wad of vines instead of a regulation soccer ball.

The competition started in earnest, but before long Shrapnel and Bombshell both stayed right in front of their nets for fear of the other scoring a point. The two warring Insecticons were so focused on making sure the other lost that they forgot Kickback was even playing, and because of this he managed to score the most points on them! In fact, after a while he lost interest because he felt like he was playing alone.

"Hey guys, can we quit now?" Kickback asked, "We've been at this for hours! Let's just calculate the points!"

The others agreed, and looked at their scoreboard. It was Shrapnel 3, Bombshell 3, and Kickback 27! The other two looked flabbergasted as they realized that they let Kickback win because they were too focused on each other!

"Wait, I don't understand!" Kickback finally said, "If Shrapnel got 1 point, Bombshell got 1 point, and I got 1 point...Then who is our leader? Who's the best?"

The other two thought about it a moment. Shrapnel paced, and Bombshell held a hand to his chin as he pondered the implications of their findings. Finally, it was Bombshell who said "Well...I guess this means...We're equal."

"Hm...Works for me me!" Shrapnel shrugged good-naturedly.

Then the three Insecticons flew off to look for more food. They had burned off a lot of it playing soccer. They were all happy with the results of their makeshift gladiatorial match. They had proven once and for all that _all_ Insecticons were the best. Maybe together they could overthrow Megatron and prove Insecticons were better than Decepticons...


	15. A Brighter Tomorrow

_Author's Notes: I know it took a long time to post this finale, but I wanted to get it just right. I really enjoyed writing this story, and I wanted to give it the proper send off! A big thanks to everyone who supported this fic, and to those who will read it in the future as well! I know this chapter is long, but I didn't want to break it up because that would decrease the impact. Anyway, enough rambling from me. Hope you like the final chapter of The Savage Earth! :)_

* * *

Chapter 15

A Brighter Tomorrow

Over the years things on earth and Cybertron slowly began to change. Megatron was becoming more aggressive in his attacks; more ruthless. The Decepticons were tired of playing around with the Autobots, and when the new millennium brought about the importation of Autobot City (otherwise known as the Autobot guardian Metroplex) it became Megatron's mission to crush it to dust!

The Insecticons didn't really notice anything different at first. They were too busy with their own lives and their own goals to worry about what became of some oversized Autobot and the fleas that lived on him. This would change one day when Bombshell was approached in the swamp by a lone Decepticon; Starscream.

Bombshell watched with amusement as the brilliantly painted seeker fussed over his paint when some random muck or mud fell on him. He also laughed out loud every time the seeker tripped on his own pedes. These elite soldiers wouldn't know how to survive a week without their precious facilities! The Insecticon scientist stayed where he was; perched on a tree branch looking thoroughly entertained.

"Bombshell! I'm so glad I found you here," Starscream purred; trying to brush off his humiliation at tripping over every plant and animal that crossed his path, "I have a proposition for you…"

"I prefer femmes," Bombshell said dryly.

It took Starscream a second to figure out what Bombshell was talking about, and then it took everything he had to keep from fuming at the sarcastic mech! Starscream tried to regain control of the conversation without shooting the insolent bug.

"As I was saying," Starscream hissed through gritted teeth, "I am here to make you an offer on behalf of Megatron. He wishes you to join our cause full time and aid us in gaining full and undisputed control over Cybertron. Our main forces are relocating to Cybertron now that we have driven most of Prime's forces away from earth. Autobot City will fall soon after! Total domination is within our grasp! You are being offered a chance to be a part of history! A chance to secure a future of absolute Decepticon rule! All we ask is that you and your fellow Insecticons transfer to Cybertron with us. What do you say?"

Bombshell listened carefully to what Starscream said. His speech was certainly impassioned, and a future without war and without Autobots was certainly appealing. Bombshell could retire after the war and start up a small research laboratory. He'd be a hero, and his brothers would be heroes. He could start reformatting willing mechs into Insecticons! It could become an official frame type like seekers and racers! That was certainly worth fighting for, but something else popped into his processor that was an even greater reason to fight...The clones.

Over the years the Insecticons had made hundreds, even thousands, of clones. The swarms of mindless drones had never matured to the point of consciousness, but still they continued to produce them in the hopes of one day creating actual life instead of just flying shells.

Two years prior Shrapnel had made 6 clones, and despite the battles and hardships they had been through these clones had managed to survive. They were so close to full awareness now! Soon they would be fully sparked Cybertronians! Every cycle Shrapnel would check their sparks for signs of growth, and Bombshell would document their progress.

Shrapnel had been making preparations for them for months! They had set up a place for the clones to recharge when they were uploading new information, they had started picking out new parts and upgrades for when they wanted to differentiate the new Insecticons from Shrapnel, and Bombshell and Kickback had given Shrapnel numerous gifts after Kickback had told them about a human tradition known as the _baby shower_.

Yes, Bombshell wanted his friend's progeny to live in a world where they would be conquerors and beloved for their talents. There were so many possibilities for the new sparklings, and there were so many opportunities for himself and his friends. Yes, Megatron could provide them a real future on Cybertron!

"Tell Megatron that we will be honored to serve the Decepticon cause," Bombshell replied eloquently.

Starscream smiled a triumphant smirk. He knew the bugs couldn't resist the chance to destroy the Autobots and mooch free energy off the Decepticons full time. They were so disgusting, but he would put up with them because the Decepticons needed mechs with powers like theirs.

* * *

Serving on Cybertron had been quite an adjustment for the Insecticons. First of all, Cybertron had no sun, and therefore was ridiculously cold! The Insecticons had become reliant on heat to keep their systems active, and therefore weren't of much use for the first few orns they were on the new planet. Fortunately, Shockwave had worked with Bombshell to produce new internal temperature regulators that would allow them to survive any climate! Now they were even more unstoppable!

The other problem had been the lower-ranked Decepticons that weren't used to working with the Insecticons. Most couldn't understand why any mech would choose to model themselves after the lowest form of organic life! The bold ones mocked them and tried to start fights. The timid ones that knew of their _eating habits_ would cower in fear and keep away from them. For the most part they took this in stride and continued to make plans for their future.

"What about Fallout?" Kickback asked Shrapnel.

"Not bad bad," Shrapnel admitted, "But it's a rather generic name name."

The three Insecticons were sitting outside the control room awaiting Megatron's new orders. They knew something big was going down, and they wanted to be on hand to avoid Megatron getting angry for their absence. Bombshell kept cerebro-shells on the clones to keep them from eating anything while they waited. The clones would eat constantly if allowed; this would help their systems to gain the nutrients they needed to fuel their new sparks.

While Bombshell watched the sparklings Shrapnel and Kickback had spent their downtime trying to pick out names for the newsparks.

"What about Plutonium?" Kickback suggested.

"That's a femme's name name!" Shrapnel snapped in offense.

"Nuh-uh! It's unisex!" Kickback insisted.

"I know I want to name one Mine Sweep," Shrapnel informed them, "I might name another one Catalyst...Maybe Venom is a good name name."

" _Venom_? There's gotta be about a thousand other 'Cons with that name!" Kickback protested, "I say we-"

Before Kickback could finish, however, Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave were coming out the door to the control room. The Insecticons stood at attention, and Bombshell sent a command over the cerebro-shells that forced the clones to stand at attention as well. They waited silently for their orders. Megatron had been in a good mood lately, but that did not guarantee safety for the smaller Insecticons.

"Insecticons, board Astrotrain!" Megatron roared, "We're going after an Autobot shuttle that's sending supplies to Autobot City on earth!"

They were heading out for Astrotrain before Megatron could even finish speaking. This was what they had been waiting for! A chance to go back to earth for a mission! No matter what Cybertron offered, earth was still their home, and they missed it greatly...even if none of them would admit it to anyone else.

* * *

The past few joors were beyond the Insecticons' comprehension. There were elite Autobots on board that shuttle, and yet Megatron took them out like it was nothing! Gone was the silly mech that they had met all those years ago! Gone was the Megatron that built a giant purple gryphon and called it genius! No, this was a true leader, a mighty assassin that would allow nothing to stand in his way, and the Insecticons loved it!

When the shuttle arrived on earth they couldn't make it as far as Autobot City before the Autobots stationed there caught wind of what was happening and opened fire! The Insecticons were among the last to leave. It was all part of the plan.

The clones were sent out first to engage the Autobots along with the first wave of Decepticon soldiers. That...might not have been the best idea.

Blitzwing was about to shoot down an Autobot when a pale green Autobot (that looked like he was older than planet earth) grabbed his gun and aimed it at one of the clones; forcing it to land! Bombshell had seen the display and held his breath...It was still alive! He breathed a sigh of relief as he flew away to complete his part of the mission.

While the Autobots were busy with the borage of Decepticons the Insecticons were supposed to force their way into Metroplex and disable his defenses. Bombshell flew down to enact Plan A. If he failed, then Shrapnel and Kickback would be needed for Plan B.

Bombshell flew down into the still-closing roof of one of the laboratories. Starscream had tried to follow him inside, but his foot got stuck in the closing door and he had to pull back! Bombshell wanted to laugh at the seeker's stupidity and poor reflexes, but after all the deaths he'd seen that day he felt it just wasn't stimulating enough to be funny anymore.

Bombshell crawled into a darkened room that held a computer terminal. Ah yes, this would be the place that controlled Metroplex's motor functions. All he had to do was hack the computer and set Metroplex to self-destruct, and the Autobots on earth would be history! He was almost done hacking when-

"Hold it right there, Decepticon!" He heard a familiar voice order as a laser rifle barrel was pressed against his helm.

Bombshell slowly turned around to face his attacker; risking his life with that mere action alone. Yes, he remembered this Autobot. He was their mad scientist, and had delivered many humiliating punishments to the Insecticons over the years. There was a grey and red minibot with him. He didn't know that Autobot's name, but he could feel the magnetic pulses coming from the minibot's body.

"Now, back away from the control panel nice and slow," Wheeljack demanded of Bombshell.

"Yes, of course, whatever you say," Bombshell replied in a deceptively agreeable tone as he inched closer to the 'Bots, "Just please don't shoot me. Now, Motormaster, take the shot!"

Bombshell had yelled behind the Autobot, and they turned around to face the new threat. Before they could even realize no one was there, Bombshell had shot a round of fire grenades in rapid succession in the back of Wheeljack's helm! Windcharger turned back around to shoot Bombshell, but he too was executed by Bombshell's weapon of choice; the grenades.

For all of Bombshell's intellect, he was surprised that his crudest weapons and his utter lack of strategy was the most effective. There were many things he could do now. He could continue to hack Metroplex for Megatron, or he could eat the corpses of his fallen enemies and use some of the metal for more clones. He did neither. He knew the Autobots would've heard his attack, and he couldn't risk being there when they returned, so he fled out of Autobot City and into the melee.

A few minutes later the fallen Autobots would be found by Arcee; Wheeljack's body almost unrecognizable except for the face mask and splotches of red and green paint on his charred chassis.

* * *

Plan A had obviously failed, so Plan B had been put into action. Shrapnel and Kickback were sent in to break down the gate to Autobot City the best way they knew how; by eating it whole!

"Delicious, aye Shrapnel?" Kickback asked as he happily ate his share of the door.

"A little heavy on the electrons electrons," Shrapnel commented sourly as he ate.

Kickback wanted to roll his optics! Shrapnel could be such a stick in the mud! To be fair though, Kickback knew Shrapnel hated it when people tried to talk to him while he was eating. That was one reason why he did it all the time (mua ha ha).

The ramp to Autobot City was retreating, so Kickback decided to hitch a ride. He loved pretending he was at a human carnival or fair, and even slow rides like this could feel like a blast when all they'd been doing for weeks was grunt work.

/ _Wheee_!/ Kickback shouted over the comm signal.

/Get back here, you dolt dolt!/ Shrapnel chastised him while continuing to eat the door on the other side.

Just then, a car was coming right for them! Kickback didn't pay much attention, sure that it was a Deception fighter or a scared little human, but then he saw the flaming paint job and realized it was that Autobot Hot Rod! Before Kickback could get out of the way, Hot Rod ran over him to use him as a makeshift ramp to get into Autobot City through the hole the Insecticons had made! Hot Rod knocked Shrapnel out of the way as he sped by!

Kickback tried to climb back up the ramp. His wings were damaged by Hot Rod so he had to try to climb. He was halfway up when a pale green Autobot truck ran over his helm and back; nearly crushing him to death! The truck rammed into Shrapnel just as Hot Rod had a moment ago, and this time Shrapnel fell into the chasm below!

/Damage report report!/ Shrapnel yelled over the comm.

"My...Head…" Kickback said aloud despite the comm being on.

/Yes, my mandibles and wings are damaged as well well,/ Shrapnel commiserated, /I contacted one of the clones to come get me, and we'll come back for you shortly shortly./

/Shrapnel.../ Kickback sounded so small as he spoke over the comm, /What if an Autobot finds us like this? I don't want to die.../

/We're not going to die die!/ Shrapnel snapped insistently, /We are Insecticons! We are too valuable to the Decepticon cause to be cast aside aside! We will make our way back to the ship and regroup regroup!/

Kickback moaned in acknowledgement. He didn't want to lose consciousness, but feared that he wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer.

Just then, over the Insecticons' private channel, they heard Bombshell yell /I've been hit!/

/What? Who did this to you you?/ Shrapnel demanded to know.

/I didn't see them,/ Bombshell replied, /Meet back at Astrotrain! We need to make repairs quickly!/

It wasn't long before one of the clones made its way to Shrapnel. It looked just as bad as Shrapnel felt! He only hoped the other clones made it out okay. It seemed the new Autobots were better warriors than the Insecticons gave them credit for. Still, they'd regroup with the other Decepticons and take this world by force! It was the birthright of every Insecticon to do with earth as they pleased, and Shrapnel wasn't about to lose that right to a bunch of Autobot scum!

* * *

The Insecticons sat in defeat near the back of Astrotrain. There weren't as many casualties as they expected, but all three were surprised to see that Megatron had been mortally wounded by Optimus Prime!

"You think he's done for?" Kickback asked quietly.

"No," Bombshell whispered to his friend, "Megatron is the Slag Maker. He will never be defeated. Our repairs may be put off though. They will surely repair Megatron first. Just be patient though. They will get to us. I am sorry I could not do better with our repairs, but my equipment is insufficient."

"That's alright alright," Shrapnel said consolingly, "I will say though that we'll probably be repaired last last. Two members of the elite trine were also gravely wounded. They will take precedence over us us."

Bombshell looked over at where Skywarp and Thundercracker lay. They weren't even conscious, and didn't look like they would last much longer. Bombshell had no problem with Starscream, he even saw a little bit of Shrapnel in the overachieving seeker, but the other two were always a pain in the aft to Bombshell. He especially hated Skywarp and his cocky look-at-me-I'm-a-seeker attitude. It made Bombshell smile to see the tin toy soldiers put in their place.

A small groan ripped the Insecticons out of their thoughts. It was one of the Shrapnel clones! He was holding his head and moaning softly. This was it! Self awareness! The new Insecticon had officially been born!

"Ow...Why does my helm hurt?" The clone asked in a soft hissing voice.

Shrapnel put his arm around the new addition and rubbed his hand in a soothing manner. He was already feeling protective of the new Insecticon, and it hurt him to see that the sparkling's first moments of life were that of pain and defeat.

" _Shh_...You'll be alright alright…" Shrapnel whispered to his new son, "Welcome to the universe, Mine Sweep. Someday this will all be yours yours."

Kickback wanted to jump over and hug his new nephew, but he hurt too bad to move. So, he settled for watched as Shrapnel tried to clean off the scuff marks from Mine Sweep's chassis. The Insecticons were still in pain, but things were starting to look a little brighter now that there were four of them instead of three.

Their quiet celebration was interrupted by the echoing voice of Astrotrain saying "Jettison some weight, or I'll never make it back to Cybertron!"

/Huh...I just realized something,/ Kickback said over the comm, /How does Astrotrain fit everyone in here? Megatron's entire inner circle is in here! I mean, I know Astrotrain is big, but this is just ridiculous!/

/Shut up up!/ Shrapnel hissed over their link, /Starscream is about to say something!/

"Fellow Decepticons, Astrotrain has request that we lighten our burden…" Starscream announced; letting the words hang in the air.

Bombshell had an ominous feeling in the pit of his fuel tank, but tried to ignore it, and tried to deny what he was sure was coming next…

A Constructicon, probably Scrapper but he wasn't sure, shouted "In that case I say it's survival of the fittest!"

/Bombshell! What does that mean?/ Kickback asked frantically, /Are they gonna get rid of us?/

/No!/ Bombshell replied a little too quickly, /Starscream's trine is among the injured. He won't kill them./

/Maybe not, but _we_ are expendable expendable!/ Shrapnel said in an accusatory tone as he held on tighter to Mine Sweep.

"Do I hear a second on that?" Starscream asked expectantly.

"Aye!" The healthy Decepticons cheered; knowing they would be spared.

"And against?" Starscream asked patronizingly.

"Nay…" The Insecticons croaked out; being the only injured who were still awake besides Megatron.

"The ayes have it!" Starscream exclaimed smugly; finally having the means to get rid of Megatron once and for all.

The Decepticons crowded around to grab at the injured! Their ugly smug faces and reaching claws would be burned in Kickback's nightmares! That was, assuming he could ever dream again...

Shrapnel pushed Mine Sweep further back in an attempt to hide him, but he knew it was futile. They were going to die in the cold depths of space, and it would probably take weeks or even months for that process to be completed.

Kickback wanted to fight back, wanted to do something, but he could barely move. Bombshell looked at Starscream and couldn't believe how callous he was being. He knew he and his brothers didn't matter to Starscream, but what disgusted the bug was how Starscream could throw away his own trinemates as if they were trash! That was something even an Insecticon would never do!

They were carried closer to the open door. Thundercracker and Skywarp were already floating away lifelessly into the cold void.

"Please don't…" Kickback bleated miserably; on the verge of tears as he saw the black abyss ready to claim him.

No one listened to the plaintive cries of the doomed Decepticons. They were thrown into the expanse without a second thought. Bombshell could barely see the ship by the time Megatron was likewise thrown away. In a strange sense it was comforting to know that not even the slag maker was immune to their fate.

* * *

They drifted for a long time. Eventually Bombshell lost contact with the others as they offlined one by one. Were they dead or alive? He didn't know. It didn't matter.

In the distance, Bombshell suddenly noticed that Megatron was being pulled in by a large yellow orb! Bombshell could feel its power all the way from where he was floating. It was big, it was powerful, and it was _evil_.

Bombshell briefly wondered if it was going to eat them. He supposed it would be a fitting end for an Insecticon to be eaten alive. Poetic justice, and all that rot.

As Bombshell waited for his inevitable end he found himself dreaming of home. Not Cybertron, oddly enough, but earth. Cybertron was not a home for the Insecticons. All Cybertron did was take and take and take until they were wrung dry like an oil rag and then tossed them aside! Earth wasn't like that. Earth just gave. Earth gave them blue skies, endless fuel, and the inspiration for the beautiful bodies that made them Insecticons.

Bombshell offlined his optics and envisioned the colors of the planet earth, and the many different plants and animals that had lived there. He had seen many species come and go, and he never tired of it.

He had been so blind! Bombshell had tried so hard to keep the Autobots away from earth that it never occurred to them that the Decepticons could destroy their way of life just as easily! Autobot, Decepticon...It didn't matter anymore. They were both from Cybertron, and Cybertron was ruining their world!

Bombshell wanted to sigh, but there was no air. Attempting to breathe out here would result in deactivation. He was so cold. He didn't know how temperature could exist in nothingness, but he had no curiosity left to care. It didn't matter. No matter what the evil orb in front of him did to them, it was obvious that the Insecticons were no mor-

 **The End**

* * *

 _Authors's Notes: Don't blame me! This is how they actually died in the 1986 movie! Seriously though, I loved writing this story, and I'm so glad so many of you liked it too! Feel free to leave a review, and I hope you all have a wonderful day :D_


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